How to List All Containers in Docker: Commands and Examples

Use the docker ps command to list running containers. To list all containers, including stopped ones, use docker ps -a. This shows container IDs, names, status, and more.

Syntax

The basic command to list containers is docker ps. Adding -a shows all containers, not just running ones.

• docker ps: Lists only running containers.
• docker ps -a: Lists all containers, including stopped and exited.
• docker ps -q: Lists only container IDs.

bash

docker ps [OPTIONS]

# Common options:
# -a : Show all containers (default shows just running)
# -q : Only display container IDs

Example

This example shows how to list all containers on your system, including those that are stopped.

bash

docker ps -a

Output

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE          COMMAND                  CREATED          STATUS                      PORTS     NAMES
f3b1c2d4e5f6   nginx:latest   "/docker-entrypoint.…"   2 hours ago      Exited (0) 30 minutes ago             webserver
9a8b7c6d5e4f   redis:alpine   "docker-entrypoint.s…"   3 hours ago      Up 2 hours                  6379/tcp  redis_cache

Common Pitfalls

Many users forget to add -a and only see running containers. Also, using docker ps without options shows limited info. To get container IDs only, use -q.

Wrong: docker ps (shows only running containers)

Right: docker ps -a (shows all containers)

bash

docker ps
# Only running containers shown

docker ps -a
# All containers shown

Quick Reference

Command	Description
docker ps	List running containers
docker ps -a	List all containers (running and stopped)
docker ps -q	List only container IDs
docker ps -aq	List all container IDs

Key Takeaways

Use docker ps -a to list all containers, including stopped ones.

Without -a, docker ps shows only running containers.

Use -q to get only container IDs for scripting.

Remember container status is shown in the output to understand if containers are running or exited.