The 'ls' command is a fundamental tool in Linux used to list files and directories in the terminal. It provides a concise view of the contents within a specified directory, aiding in navigation and exploration. By default, it displays basic information like file names, sizes, and timestamps. Users can customize the output using various options, such as '-l' for a detailed listing with additional details like permissions, owner, and group; '-a' to show hidden files; and '-R' to list directories recursively. 'ls' is an essential command for everyday file management, offering quick insights into the structure and contents of directories, helping users effectively interact with the Linux file system.
NAME
ls - list directory contents
SYNOPSIS
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default).
Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is speci‐
fied.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
too.
-a, --all
do not ignore entries starting with .
-A, --almost-all
do not list implied . and ..
--author
with -l, print the author of each file
-b, --escape
print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters
--block-size=SIZE
scale sizes by SIZE before printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'
prints sizes in units of 1,048,576 bytes; see SIZE format below
-B, --ignore-backups
do not list implied entries ending with ~
-c with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last modification of
file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name;
otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first
-C list entries by columns
--color[=WHEN]
colorize the output; WHEN can be 'never', 'auto', or 'always'
(the default); more info below
-d, --directory
list directories themselves, not their contents
-D, --dired
generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode
-f do not sort, enable -aU, disable -ls --color
-F, --classify
append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries
--file-type
likewise, except do not append '*'
--format=WORD
across -x, commas -m, horizontal -x, long -l, single-column -1,
verbose -l, vertical -C
--full-time
like -l --time-style=full-iso
-g like -l, but do not list owner
--group-directories-first
group directories before files;
can be augmented with a --sort option, but any use of
--sort=none (-U) disables grouping
-G, --no-group
in a long listing, don't print group names
-h, --human-readable
with -l, print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 234M 2G)
--si likewise, but use powers of 1000 not 1024
-H, --dereference-command-line
follow symbolic links listed on the command line
--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir
follow each command line symbolic link
that points to a directory
--hide=PATTERN
do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN (overridden
by -a or -A)
--indicator-style=WORD
append indicator with style WORD to entry names: none (default),
slash (-p), file-type (--file-type), classify (-F)
-i, --inode
print the index number of each file
-I, --ignore=PATTERN
do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN
-k, --kibibytes
default to 1024-byte blocks for disk usage
-l use a long listing format
-L, --dereference
when showing file information for a symbolic link, show informa‐
tion for the file the link references rather than for the link
itself
-m fill width with a comma separated list of entries
-n, --numeric-uid-gid
like -l, but list numeric user and group IDs
-N, --literal
print raw entry names (don't treat e.g. control characters spe‐
cially)
-o like -l, but do not list group information
-p, --indicator-style=slash
append / indicator to directories
-q, --hide-control-chars
print ? instead of nongraphic characters
--show-control-chars
show nongraphic characters as-is (the default, unless program is
'ls' and output is a terminal)
-Q, --quote-name
enclose entry names in double quotes
--quoting-style=WORD
use quoting style WORD for entry names: literal, locale, shell,
shell-always, c, escape
-r, --reverse
reverse order while sorting
-R, --recursive
list subdirectories recursively
-s, --size
print the allocated size of each file, in blocks
-S sort by file size
--sort=WORD
sort by WORD instead of name: none (-U), size (-S), time (-t),
version (-v), extension (-X)
--time=WORD
with -l, show time as WORD instead of default modification time:
atime or access or use (-u) ctime or status (-c); also use spec‐
ified time as sort key if --sort=time
--time-style=STYLE
with -l, show times using style STYLE: full-iso, long-iso, iso,
locale, or +FORMAT; FORMAT is interpreted like in 'date'; if
FORMAT is FORMAT1<newline>FORMAT2, then FORMAT1 applies to
non-recent files and FORMAT2 to recent files; if STYLE is pre‐
fixed with 'posix-', STYLE takes effect only outside the POSIX
locale
-t sort by modification time, newest first
-T, --tabsize=COLS
assume tab stops at each COLS instead of 8
-u with -lt: sort by, and show, access time; with -l: show access
time and sort by name; otherwise: sort by access time
-U do not sort; list entries in directory order
-v natural sort of (version) numbers within text
-w, --width=COLS
assume screen width instead of current value
-x list entries by lines instead of by columns
-X sort alphabetically by entry extension
-1 list one file per line
SELinux options:
--lcontext
Display security context. Enable -l. Lines will probably be
too wide for most displays.
-Z, --context
Display security context so it fits on most displays. Displays
only mode, user, group, security context and file name.
--scontext
Display only security context and file name.
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
SIZE is an integer and optional unit (example: 10M is 10*1024*1024).
Units are K, M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y (powers of 1024) or KB, MB, ... (pow‐
ers of 1000).
Using color to distinguish file types is disabled both by default and
with --color=never. With --color=auto, ls emits color codes only when
standard output is connected to a terminal. The LS_COLORS environment
variable can change the settings. Use the dircolors command to set it.
Exit status:
0 if OK,
1 if minor problems (e.g., cannot access subdirectory),
2 if serious trouble (e.g., cannot access command-line argument).
GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report ls translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
AUTHOR
Written by Richard M. Stallman and David MacKenzie.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for ls is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
the info and ls programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
mand
info coreutils 'ls invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU coreutils 8.22 April 2018 LS(1)