Find Cheatsheet

# Syntax
find [path] [expression]

find .                          # list everything
find /var/log                   # search in /var/log
find . -maxdepth 1              # current dir only
find . -maxdepth 2              # 2 levels deep
find . -mindepth 2              # skip first level

find . -name "*.py"             # exact pattern (case sensitive)
find . -iname "*.py"            # case insensitive
find . -name "test*"            # starts with "test"
find . -not -name "*.log"       # exclude pattern

# Path pattern
find . -path "*/src/*.js"
find . -not -path "*/node_modules/*"

# Regex
find . -regex ".*\.(py|js)"

# Type
find . -type f                  # regular files
find . -type d                  # directories
find . -type l                  # symlinks

# Size
find . -size +100M              # larger than 100MB
find . -size -1k               # smaller than 1KB
find . -size 50M               # exactly 50MB
find . -empty                   # empty files/dirs

# Size units: c(bytes) k(KB) M(MB) G(GB)

# Modified time (days)
find . -mtime -7               # last 7 days
find . -mtime +30              # more than 30 days ago
find . -mtime 0                # today

# Modified time (minutes)
find . -mmin -60               # last 60 minutes

# Access time / Change time
find . -atime -7               # accessed in last 7 days
find . -ctime -7               # status changed

# Newer than file
find . -newer reference.txt

find . -perm 644                # exact permissions
find . -perm -644               # at least these perms
find . -perm /111               # any execute bit

find . -user username
find . -group groupname
find . -uid 1000
find . -nouser                  # no matching user

# Execute command
find . -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \;
find . -name "*.py" -exec grep -l "TODO" {} +

# Print (default)
find . -name "*.txt" -print
find . -name "*.txt" -print0     # null-delimited

# Delete
find . -name "*.tmp" -delete

# Confirm before action
find . -name "*.log" -ok rm {} \;

# With xargs
find . -name "*.txt" -print0 | xargs -0 grep "pattern"

# Find large files
find / -type f -size +500M 2>/dev/null

# Find and delete old logs
find /var/log -name "*.log" -mtime +90 -delete

# Count files by extension
find . -type f | sed 's/.*\.//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Find duplicate filenames
find . -type f -printf "%f\n" | sort | uniq -d

# Fix permissions
find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +
find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +

# Find recently modified
find . -type f -mmin -30 -ls