35 Essential Linux Find Command Examples Every Sysadmin Should Know

The Linux find command is a powerful tool for locating files and directories based on various criteria such as name, permissions, owner, group, timestamps, and size. This guide presents 35 common examples, organized into five sections, to help you master file searching in daily system administration.

First Part – Name Based File Search

1. Find files named test.c in the current directory

Searches for all files named test.c within the current working directory.

2. Find files named test under the home directory

Finds all files named test in the /home directory.

3. Find files named test ignoring case

Locates files named test regardless of case in /home.

4. Find directories named test

Searches for directories named test under the root ( /) path.

5. Find PHP files named test.PHP

Finds all PHP files named test.PHP in the current directory.

6. Find all PHP files in a directory

Lists every .php file inside the specified directory.

Second Part – Permission Based File Search

7. Find files with permission 777

Locates all files whose mode is 777.

8. Find files without permission 777

Finds files that do not have the 777 mode.

9. Find SGID files with mode 644

Searches for files that have SGID set and permission 644.

10. Find Sticky Bit files with mode 551

Finds files where the sticky bit is set and mode is 551.

11. Find SUID files

Lists all files with the SUID bit set.

12. Find SGID files

Lists all files with the SGID bit set.

13. Find read‑only files

Finds every file that is marked as read‑only.

14. Find executable files

Lists all files that have execute permission.

15. Find files with permission 777 and change to 644

Finds files with mode 777 and applies chmod 644 to them.

16. Find directories with permission 777 and change to 755

Finds directories set to 777 and changes their mode to 755.

17. Find and delete a single file

Locates a file named test.c and removes it.

18. Find and delete multiple files

Searches for several files (e.g., .mp3 or .txt) and deletes them.

19. Find all empty files

Finds every zero‑byte file in a given path.

20. Find all empty directories

Identifies directories that contain no files.

21. Find hidden files

Lists files whose names start with a dot ( .).

Third Part – Owner and Group Based Search

22. Find a file owned by root

Searches for test.c owned by user root in /root.

23. Find all files belonging to user neil

Lists every file in the home directory owned by user neil.

24. Find all files belonging to group Developer

Finds files in /home that belong to the group Developer.

25. Find .txt files of user neil

Searches for all .txt files in neil's home directory.

Fourth Part – Date and Time Based Search

26. Find files modified in the last 50 days

Lists files whose modification time is within the past 50 days.

27. Find files accessed in the last 50 days

Finds files accessed within the previous 50 days.

28. Find files modified between 50 and 100 days ago

Locates files whose modification time is older than 50 days but newer than 100 days.

29. Find files changed in the last hour

Searches for files whose content changed within the past hour.

30. Find files modified in the last hour

Finds files whose modification timestamp is within the previous hour.

31. Find files accessed in the last hour

Lists files that were accessed during the last hour.

Fifth Part – Size Based Search

32. Find files of exactly 50 MB

Locates all files whose size is precisely 50 MB.

33. Find files between 50 MB and 100 MB

Finds files larger than 50 MB but smaller than 100 MB.

34. Find and delete files of 100 MB

Searches for all 100 MB files and removes them with a single command.

35. Find specific files and delete them

Finds all .mp3 files larger than 10 MB and deletes them in one step.

These 35 commands cover most common uses of the find utility, providing a solid foundation for file searching and management in Linux environments.