find by name, type, and size in Linux CLI - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the find command do in Linux?

The find command searches for files and directories in a directory hierarchy based on conditions like name, type, or size.

beginner

How do you use find to search for files by name?

Use find [path] -name "filename". For example, find . -name "report.txt" finds files named 'report.txt' in the current directory and subdirectories.

beginner

What option do you use with find to search by file type?

Use -type followed by a letter: f for files, d for directories. Example: find . -type d finds directories.

beginner

How can you find files larger than 1 megabyte using find?

Use -size +1M. For example, find . -size +1M finds files bigger than 1 megabyte.

intermediate

Write a find command to find all regular files named 'log.txt' larger than 500 kilobytes.

Command: find . -type f -name "log.txt" -size +500k. This finds files named 'log.txt' that are regular files and bigger than 500 KB.

Which find option searches for directories?

A -type d

B -name d

C -size d

D -type f

The option -type d searches for directories.

How do you find files named exactly 'data.csv' in the current directory and subdirectories?

A find . -name "data.csv"

B find . -type f -size data.csv

C find . -type d -name "data.csv"

D find . -size +data.csv

Use find . -name "data.csv" to find files by name.

What does -size +10M mean in a find command?

A Files exactly 10 megabytes

B Files larger than 10 megabytes

C Files smaller than 10 megabytes

D Files with 10 megabytes of free space

+10M means files larger than 10 megabytes.

Which command finds all regular files larger than 100 kilobytes?

A find . -name "100k"

B find . -type d -size +100k

C find . -size -100k

D find . -type f -size +100k

Use -type f for files and -size +100k for files larger than 100 KB.

What does the command find /tmp -type f -name "*.log" -size -1M do?

A Finds log files larger than 1 MB in /tmp

B Finds all files in /tmp

C Finds log files smaller than 1 MB in /tmp

D Finds directories named '*.log' in /tmp

It finds regular files ending with '.log' smaller than 1 megabyte in /tmp.

Explain how to use the find command to search for files by name, type, and size.

Think about combining options like -name, -type, and -size in one command.

Describe a real-life scenario where you would use find with name, type, and size filters.

Imagine managing files on your computer or server.