Tools
find Cheat Sheet
Print-ready cheat sheet for find, organized for fast lookup, study, and desk-side use
Sample
What's in this cheat sheet
- Basic Search
- Name Patterns
- Type Filters
- Size & Time
- Permissions
- Actions
- Combining Tests
- Exec & Delete
- Depth & Pruning
- Common Patterns
Running find
find . # list all files recursively
find /var/log # search from specific path
find . -name "*.txt" # find by name
find / -name "config" 2>/dev/null # suppress permission errors
find dir1 dir2 -name "*.py" # search multiple directories
Syntax Overview
find [path...] [tests] [actions] | General form — paths, then tests, then actions |
path | Starting directory (default: current directory) |
test | Condition to filter files (`-name`, `-type`, etc.) |
action | What to do with matches (`-print`, `-exec`, etc.) |
Default action | `-print` if no action is specified |
Download the full cheat sheet for all sections, formatted for print
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