如何使用命令行在Linux中查找文件

Despite the popularity of window managers that offer graphical user interfaces, the best way to search for files in Linux still requires a shell.

To search for files using the Linux command line, you will need to open a terminal window.

There are many ways to open a terminal window. One way that is sure to work on most Linux systems is to press Ctrl+Alt+T.

The command used to search for files is called find.

Here is the basic syntax of the find command:

find

The starting point is the folder where you want to start searching from. To start searching the whole drive you would type the following:

find /

If, however, you want to start searching for the folder you are currently in then you can use the following syntax:

find .

When you search by name across the whole drive, use the following syntax:

find / -name filename

The first part of the find command is obviously the word find.
The second part is where to start searching from.
The next part is an expression which determines what to find.
Finally the last part is the name of the thing to find.

The first argument after find is the location you wish to search. Although you may specify a specific directory, most people use a metacharacter to serve as a substitute. The three metacharacters that work with this command include:

Period: specifies the current and all nested folders
Forward Slash: specifies the entire filesystem
Tilde: specifies the active user's home directory

Searching the entire filesystem is likely to generate a lot of access-denied errors. Run the command with elevated privileges (e.g., by using sudo), if you need to search in places your standard account normally cannot access.

The most common expression you will use is -name. The -name expression lets you search for the name of a file or folder.

There are, however, other expressions you can use:

-amin n: The file was last accessed n minutes ago
-anewer: The file was last accessed more recently than it was modified
-atime n: The file was last accessed more n days ago
-cmin n: The file was last changed n minutes ago
-cnewer: The file was last changed more recently than the file was modified
-ctime n: The file was last changed more than n days ago
-empty: The file is empty
-executable: The file is executable
-false: Always false
-fstype type: The file is on the specified file system
-gid n: The file belongs to group with the ID n
-group groupname: The file belongs to the named group
-ilname pattern: Search for a symbolic line but ignore case
-iname pattern: Search for a file but ignore case
-inum n: Search for a file with the specified node
-ipath path: Search for a path but ignore case
-iregex expression: Search for a expression but ignore case
-links n: Search for a file with the specified number of links
-lname name: Search for a symbolic link
-mmin n: File's data was last modified n minutes ago

-mtime n: File's data was last modified n days ago
-name name: Search for a file with the specified name
-newer name: Search for a file edited more recently than the file given
-nogroup: Search for a file with no group id
-nouser: Search for a file with no user attached to it
-path path: Search for a path
-readable: Find files which are readable
-regex pattern: Search for files matching a regular expression
-type type: Search for a particular type
-uid uid: Files numeric user id is the same as uid
-user name: File is owned by user specified
-writable: Search for files that can be written to

How to Find Files Accessed More Than a Certain Number of Days Ago

To find all the files within your home folder accessed more than 100 days ago:

find ~ -atime 100

How to Find Empty Files and Folders

To find all the empty files and folders in your system:

find / -empty

How to Find All of the Executable Files

To find all of the executable files on your computer:

find / -exec

How to Find All of the Readable Files

To find all of the files that are readable:

find / -read

When you search for a file you can use a pattern. For example, search for all files with the extension mp3: