Find

find [path] [options] [expression]

Find file by name

cat test.txt
# Output
# a,1,2,3
# b,2,4,6
# c,3,6,9
cat Test2.txt
# Output
# d,4,8,12
# e,5,10,15
# f,6,12,18

find . -name "test.txt"
# Output
# ./test.txt

find . -name "Test2.txt"
# Output
# ./Test2.txt

Case-insensitive:

find . -name "test2.txt"
# Output

find . -iname "test2.txt"
# Output
# ./Test2.txt

find . -iname "*.txt"
# Output
# ./right.txt
# ./test.txt
# ./left.txt
# ./Test2.txt
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt

find . -name "*.txt"
# Output
# ./right.txt
# ./test.txt
# ./left.txt
# ./Test2.txt
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt

Find file by type

Regular files:

# Recursive so be careful
find . -type f

Directories:

# Recursive so be careful
find . -type d

Symbolic links:

# Recursive so be careful
find . -type l

Find by size

find . -size +100M    # Larger than 100 MB
find . -size -10k     # Smaller than 10 KB

Find by modification time

find . -mtime -1   # Modified in the last 24 hours
find . -mtime +7   # Modified more than 7 days ago
find . -mmin -30   # Modified in last 30 minutes

Find and execute a command

{} = matched file, \; ends the command.

find . -name "test.txt" -exec cat {} \;
# Output
# a,1,2,3
# b,2,4,6
# c,3,6,9

find . -name "Test2.txt" -exec cat {} \;
# Output
# d,4,8,12
# e,5,10,15
# f,6,12,18

!!!!!!!!!! You can run multiple commands using + for efficiency:

find . -name "*.txt" -exec ls {}
find . -name "*.txt" -exec ls -l {} +
find . -name "*.txt" -exec ls -lh {} +

!!!!!!!!!!

Find and print details

find . -name "*.txt" -printf "%p %k KB\n"
# Output
# ./right.txt 4 KB
# ./test.txt 4 KB
# ./left.txt 4 KB
# ./Test2.txt 4 KB
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt 4 KB

Combine conditions

find . -type f -name "*.txt" -size +1M
# Output

find . -type f -name "*.txt" -size +1k
# Output
# ./right.txt
# ./left.txt

find . -type f -name "*.txt" -size +10k
# Output

Finds .txt files larger than 1 MB.

Exclude directories

TL;DR

find . -path "./node_modules" -prune -o -type f -name "*.js" -print

Finds .js files but ignores node_modules.

...but like what and we are pruning (-prune) and there is an -o now...

find . -type f -name "*.txt"
# Output
# ./right.txt
# ./test.txt
# ./left.txt
# ./Test2.txt
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -type f -name "*.txt"
# Output

...no output?

So -path is looking for files/folders with ./ACTI-QUANT exactly in the path but what you don't see is an automatic "AND" with the other flags to the right. Here path has to match exactly! So there are no directories that match ./ACTI-QUANT "AND" are files that have a "*.txt" pattern.

Let's explore:

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT/*.txt" 
# Output
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt


find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT/*.txt" -type f -name "*.txt"
# Output
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt

-o - adds an "OR" with the other commands:

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -o -type f -name "*.txt"
# Output
# ./right.txt
# ./test.txt
# ./left.txt
# ./Test2.txt
# ./ACTI-QUANT
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt

So directory ./ACTI-QUANT "OR" files that end in ".txt"

Remember without -type directories are found too.

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT"
# Output
# ./ACTI-QUANT

-prune - says, do not descent into this directory.

We don't have to descent to match -path directories

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -prune 
# Output
# ./ACTI-QUANT

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -o -type f -name "*.txt"
# ./right.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./test.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./left.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./Test2.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./ACTI-QUANT -> matched with `find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT"`
# ./ACTI-QUANT/app_scoring/input/res/submission.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`

find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -prune -o -type f -name "*.txt"
# ./right.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./test.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./left.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./Test2.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./ACTI-QUANT -> matched with `find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -prune`

# Same as:
find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -a -prune -o -type f -name "*.txt"
# ./right.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./test.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./left.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./Test2.txt -> matched with ` -o -type f -name "*.txt"`
# ./ACTI-QUANT -> matched with `find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -a -prune`

So carefully looking at the last example, ./ACTI-QUANT is pruned for deeper consideration but the directory is found. Find executes left to right so since the ./ACTI-QUANT is found and an implicit "AND" is operated between -path and -prune, those both together evaluate to "TRUE". Since that part is true, the -o stuff that follows is not considered when the directory is ./ACTI-QUANT, but if the files are not in that directory (-path not satisfied), then find . -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -prune is not "TRUE" and we can execute the stuff after -o.

Another way to visualize:

( -path "./ACTI-QUANT" -a -prune ) -o ( -type f -a -name '*.txt' -a -print )

If you don’t give any action (-print, -exec, -delete, etc.), the default action is -print.

Find files owned by a user

find . -user bearceb