ls command in Linux / Unix

Linux ls command.

ls command Lists the files in the current directory, in alphanumeric order, except files starting with the “.” character.

ls command syntax

 $ ls [options]

ls command options

ls command main options:

option	description
ls -a (all)	Lists all the files (including .* files)
ls -l (long)	Long listing (type, date, size, owner, permissions)
ls -t (time)	Lists the most recent files first
ls -S (size)	Lists the biggest files first
ls -r (reverse)	Reverses the sort order
ls -ltr (options can be combined)	Long listing, most recent files at the end
ls -d	-d tells ls not to display the contents of directories
ls -i	list file’s inode index number
ls -la (long + all)	Long listing + Lists all the files
ls -ls (long + size)	Long listing with size
ls -R	list recursively directory tree

ls command examples

ls (List):

$ ls
Android                idea-IC-141.177.4      mytxt.sh                 test
AndroidStudioProjects  IdeaProjects           Pictures                 test.txt
a.txt                  javadoc                Public                   Untitled Document
Desktop                javadoc~               pycharm-community-4.0.5  Untitled Document~
Documents              libchromiumcontent.so  PycharmProjects          Videos
Downloads              libffmpegsumo.so       resources
examples.desktop       locales                sample
gittest                Music                  Templates
$

Lists filse present in directory

ls -a (all) :

$ ls -a
.                      .dmrc              javadoc~                 PycharmProjects
..                     Documents          libchromiumcontent.so    resources
.adobe                 Downloads          libffmpegsumo.so         sample
.android               examples.desktop   .local                   Templates
Android                .gconf             locales                  test
.AndroidStudio1.5      .gitconfig         .macromedia              test.txt
AndroidStudioProjects  gittest            .mozilla                 Untitled Document
a.txt                  .gnome             Music                    Untitled Document~
.bash_history          .gradle            mytxt.sh                 .vboxclient-clipboard.pid
.bash_logout           .gvfs              .oracle_jre_usage        .vboxclient-display.pid
.bashrc                .ICEauthority      Pictures                 .vboxclient-draganddrop.pid
.cache                 .IdeaIC14          .pki                     .vboxclient-seamless.pid
.compiz                idea-IC-141.177.4  .profile                 Videos
.config                IdeaProjects       Public                   .Xauthority
.dbus                  .java              .PyCharm40               .xsession-errors
Desktop                javadoc            pycharm-community-4.0.5  .xsession-errors.old
$

Lists all the files (including .* files)

ls -l (long) :

$ ls -l
total 77720
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Jan 14 22:36 Android
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Jan 14 23:04 AndroidStudioProjects
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root        0 Mär  2 23:41 a.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mai  2  2015 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Feb 28 20:10 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     8980 Mär 28  2015 examples.desktop
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Mär 29  2015 gittest
drwxrwxr-x 6 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 idea-IC-141.177.4
drwxrwxr-x 4 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 IdeaProjects
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root      109 Jan 14 21:23 javadoc
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root        0 Jan 14 21:22 javadoc~
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 76984472 Mär 29  2015 libchromiumcontent.so
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root  2496440 Mär 29  2015 libffmpegsumo.so
drwxrwxr-x 2 root root     4096 Mai  2  2015 locales
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Music
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root        0 Mär  2 23:40 mytxt.sh
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Public
drwxrwxr-x 8 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 pycharm-community-4.0.5
drwxrwxr-x 4 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 PycharmProjects
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Mai  2  2015 resources
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Mär 29  2015 sample
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Templates
drwxrwxr-x 3 root root     4096 Mär 29  2015 test
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root        0 Mär  2 23:40 test.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root       48 Jan 31 12:04 Untitled Document
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root        0 Jan 31 12:04 Untitled Document~
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Mär 28  2015 Videos
$

Long listing (type, date, size, owner, permissions)

$ ls *txt
a.txt  test.txt
$

The shell first replaces *txt by all the file and directory names ending by txt (including .txt), except those starting with ., and then executes the ls command line.

$ ls -d .*
.                  .bashrc  .gitconfig     .local             .vboxclient-clipboard.pid
..                 .cache   .gnome         .macromedia        .vboxclient-display.pid
.adobe             .compiz  .gradle        .mozilla           .vboxclient-draganddrop.pid
.android           .config  .gvfs          .oracle_jre_usage  .vboxclient-seamless.pid
.AndroidStudio1.5  .dbus    .ICEauthority  .pki               .Xauthority
.bash_history      .dmrc    .IdeaIC14      .profile           .xsession-errors
.bash_logout       .gconf   .java          .PyCharm40         .xsession-errors.old                                       
$

Lists all the files and directories starting with . -d tells ls not to display the contents of directories.