Finding Files (find)

The find command searches for files in a directory hierarchy. It's incredibly powerful for locating files based on various criteria.

Basic Usage

find path -name "filename"

Find Syntax

find [where to look] [criteria] [action]

• Where: Starting directory (. for current)
• Criteria: What to look for
• Action: What to do (default: print)

Common Search Criteria

Option	Description	Example
-name	By filename	-name "*.txt"
-type	By type	-type f (file), -type d (dir)
-size	By size	-size +10M
-mtime	By modification time	-mtime -7
-user	By owner	-user alice
-perm	By permissions	-perm 755

Finding by Name

find . -name "*.txt"          # All .txt files
find . -name "config*"        # Files starting with config
find . -iname "readme*"       # Case insensitive

Finding by Type

find . -type f                # Files only
find . -type d                # Directories only
find . -type l                # Symbolic links

Exercise: Find Files

Find all .txt files in your home directory:

Combining Criteria

Use -and (default) or -or:

find . -name "*.txt" -type f
find . -name "*.txt" -or -name "*.md"
find . -type f -not -name "*.log"

Finding by Time

# Modified in last 7 days
find . -mtime -7

# Modified more than 30 days ago
find . -mtime +30

# Accessed in last 24 hours
find . -atime -1

Finding by Size

find . -size +10M             # Larger than 10MB
find . -size -1k              # Smaller than 1KB
find . -size 0                # Empty files

Actions

Execute Command

find . -name "*.tmp" -delete
find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find . -name "*.txt" -exec cat {} \;

Print with Format

find . -type f -printf "%s %p\n"    # Size and path

Real-World Examples

Find Large Files

find /home -size +100M -type f

Find Old Files

find /tmp -mtime +30 -type f

Find and Delete

find . -name "*.bak" -delete

Find Empty Directories

find . -type d -empty

Exercise: Find Directories

Find all directories under /home/user:

Key Takeaways

• find searches files by various criteria
• Start with path, add options
• Use -name for filenames, -type for file types
• Combine criteria with -and and -or
• Use -exec to run commands on found files