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find

Introduction​

This cheat sheet provides a quick reference for some common find commands and concepts. find is a versatile command-line utility used to search for files and directories based on various criteria on Unix-like operating systems.

find Concepts​

Search Directory​

find starts searching from a specified directory.

  • Search the current directory:

    find . ...

  • Search a specific directory:

    find /path/to/directory ...

Criteria​

find searches based on various criteria, including file names, types, modification times, and more.

  • Find files by name (exact match):

    find . -name "filename"

  • Find files by name (case insensitive):

    find . -iname "filename"

  • Find files by type (e.g., directories):

    find . -type d

Time Criteria​

find can search based on file modification times.

  • Find files modified in the last N days:

    find . -mtime -N

  • Find files modified more than N days ago:

    find . -mtime +N

Actions​

find can perform actions on the found files, such as printing or deleting them.

  • Print matching files:

    find . -name "filename" -print

  • Delete matching files (use with caution):

    find . -name "filename" -delete

Combining Criteria​

You can combine multiple criteria using logical operators.

  • Find files with a specific name and extension:

    find . -name "*.txt"

  • Find files modified in the last N days with a specific name:

    find . -name "filename" -mtime -N

find Command-Line​

  • Search for files by name in the current directory:

    find . -name "filename"

  • Search for directories modified in the last 7 days:

    find . -type d -mtime -7

  • Delete all files with a specific extension:

    find . -name "*.tmp" -delete

Conclusion​

This cheat sheet covers some common find commands and concepts. find is a powerful tool for searching for files and directories based on various criteria; refer to the official find documentation for more in-depth information and advanced usage.