How to Search for your Files on the Linux Command Line

Basic Examples

1. find . - name thisfile.txt. If you need to know how to find a file in Linux called thisfile. ...
2. find /home -name *.jpg. Look for all . jpg files in the /home and directories below it.
3. find . - type f -empty. Look for an empty file inside the current directory.
4. find /home -user randomperson-mtime 6 -iname ".db"

1. How do I search the contents of a file in Linux?
2. How do I find a folder in Linux terminal?
3. How do I search for a file in Unix?
4. How do I search the contents of a file?
5. How do I find a folder in Linux?
6. How do I search for a specific folder in Linux?
7. How do I find a folder in Terminal?
8. How do I use grep to search a folder?
9. How do I grep all files in a directory?
10. How do I search for a word in Linux?
11. How do I search the contents of a folder?
12. How do you search for a word within a file?
13. How do you search a word in all files in a folder?

How do I search the contents of a file in Linux?

To find files containing specific text in Linux, do the following.

1. Open your favorite terminal app. XFCE4 terminal is my personal preference.
2. Navigate (if required) to the folder in which you are going to search files with some specific text.
3. Type the following command: grep -iRl "your-text-to-find" ./

How do I find a folder in Linux terminal?

Command to find a folder in Linux

1. find command – Search for files and folder in a directory hierarchy.
2. locate command – Find files and folders by name using prebuilt database/index.

How do I search for a file in Unix?

Syntax

1. -name file-name – Search for given file-name. You can use pattern such as *. ...
2. -iname file-name – Like -name, but the match is case insensitive. ...
3. -user userName – The file's owner is userName.
4. -group groupName – The file's group owner is groupName.
5. -type N – Search by file type.

How do I search the contents of a file?

Searching for File Content

In any File Explorer window, click File, then Change folder and search options. Click on the Search tab, then check the box next to Always search file names and contents. Click Apply then OK.

How do I find a folder in Linux?

1. One can check if a directory exists in a Linux shell script using the following syntax: [ -d "/path/dir/" ] && echo "Directory /path/dir/ exists."
2. You can use ! to check if a directory does not exists on Unix: [ ! -d "/dir1/" ] && echo "Directory /dir1/ DOES NOT exists."

How do I search for a specific folder in Linux?

You need to use find command. It is used to locate files on Linux or Unix-like system. The locate command will search through a prebuilt database of files generated by updatedb. The find command will search live file-system for files that match the search criteria.

How do I find a folder in Terminal?

To see them in the terminal, you use the "ls" command, which is used to list files and directories. So, when I type "ls" and press "Enter" we see the same folders that we do in the Finder window.

How do I use grep to search a folder?

To include all subdirectories in a search, add the -r operator to the grep command. This command prints the matches for all files in the current directory, subdirectories, and the exact path with the filename. In the example below, we also added the -w operator to show whole words, but the output form is the same.

How do I grep all files in a directory?

To grep All Files in a Directory Recursively, we need to use -R option. When -R options is used, The Linux grep command will search given string in the specified directory and subdirectories inside that directory. If no folder name is given, grep command will search the string inside the current working directory.

How do I search for a word in Linux?

Search any line that contains the word in filename on Linux: grep 'word' filename. Perform a case-insensitive search for the word 'bar' in Linux and Unix: grep -i 'bar' file1. Look for all files in the current directory and in all of its subdirectories in Linux for the word 'httpd' grep -R 'httpd' .

How do I search the contents of a folder?

How to Search for words within files on Windows 7

1. Open windows explorer.
2. Using the left hand file menu select the folder to search in.
3. Find the search box in the top right hand corner of the explorer window.
4. In the search box type content: followed by the word or phrase you are searching for.(eg content:yourword)

How do you search for a word within a file?

To open the Find pane from the Edit View, press Ctrl+F, or click Home > Find. Find text by typing it in the Search the document for… box. Word Web App starts searching as soon as you start typing.

How do you search a word in all files in a folder?

If you'd like to always search within file contents for a specific folder, navigate to that folder in File Explorer and open the “Folder and Search Options.” On the “Search” tab, select the “Always search file names and contents” option.