how to use ls command with its examples

  • About ls : To list directory contents
  • It comes from “coreutils-8.4” package.
  • Configuration Files :
  • Path: /bin/ls

Examples:

1. To list the directory content

$ ls

 2. To list all the directory contents

$ ls -a
$ ls –all

 3. To skip listing implied . and ..

$ ls -A
$ ls –almost-all 

4. To print the author of each file

$ ls –author -l

 5. To print in specified block size

$ ls –block-size=1024

 6. To skip listing entries ending with ~

$ ls -B
$ ls –ignore-backups 

7. To show the ctime for the files

$ ls -c

 8. To list entries by columns

$ ls -C

9. To list the content in color

$ ls –color

10. To list the directory entries only

$ ls -d
$ ls –directory

11. To not to sort the output

$ ls -f

12. To append the indicator

$ ls -F
$ ls –classify 

13. To specify the format

$ ls –format=verbose
$ ls –format=long
$ ls –format=commas
$ ls –format=horizontal
$ ls –format=across
$ ls –format=vertical
$ ls –format=single-column
$ ls –format=context 

14. To long list

$ ls –full-time

15. To list group and not the owner

$ ls -g

16. To group directories before files

$ ls –group-directories-first

17. To print in human readable format

$ ls -h
$ ls –human-readable 

18. To list the size in powers of 1000 and not 1024

$ ls –si

19. To follow symbolic links

$ ls -H
$ ls –dereference-command-line 

20. To follow each command line symbolic link that points to a directory

$ ls –dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir

21. To skip listing implied entries matching shell PATTERN

$ ls –hide=PATTERN

22. To print the index number of each file

$ ls -i
$ ls –inode 

23. To skip listing implied entries matching shell PATTERN

$ ls -I
$ ls –ignore=PATTERN 

24. To list the entries with block size of 1K

$ ls -k
$ ls –block-size=1K

25. To get comma separated list of entries

$ ls -m

 26. To list entries with numeric user and user IDs

$ ls -n
$ ls –numeric-uid-gid

27. To print raw entry names

$ ls -N
$ ls –literal 

28. To skip listing group entries

$ ls -o

29. To append indicator to directories

$ ls -p
$ ls –indicator-style=slash

30. To print the  ? instead of non graphic characters

$ ls -q
$ ls –hide-control-chars 

31. To enclose entry names in double quotes

$ ls -Q
$ ls –quote-name

32. To reverse order while sorting

$ ls -r
$ ls –reverse 

33. To list subdirectories recursively

$ ls -R
$ ls –recursive 

34. To print the allocated size of each file, in blocks

$ ls -s
$ ls –size 

35. To sort by file size

$ ls -S

36. To sort by WORD instead of name

$ ls –sort=WORD

37. To sort by modification time

$ ls -t

38. To assume tab stops at each COLS instead of 8

$ ls -T
$ ls –tabsize=COLS 

39. To not to sort 

$ ls -U

40. For natural sort of (version) numbers within text

$ ls -v

41. To assume screen width instead of current value

+$ ls -w
$ ls –width=COLS 

42. To list entries by lines instead of by columns

$ ls -x

43. To sort alphabetically by entry extension

$ ls -X

44. To list one file per line

$ ls -1

45. To display the security context

$ ls –lcontext

46. To display security context so it fits on most displays

$ ls -Z
$ ls –context 

47. To display only security context and file name

$ ls –scontext

48. To display the help

$ ls –help

49. To output version information

$ ls –version

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