Listing directories

| 1 min read | Unix things I always forget 2/6

A listing of my favorite ls features.

To know wich directory you're in now, use the pwd command. pwd stands for “print working directory”.

> pwd
/Users/sebastiandedeyne/Sites/test

List the current directory, use the ls command. ls is short for “list”.

> ls
README.md  assets     index.html

Include hidden files with -a.

> ls -a
.          ..         .git       README.md  assets     index.html

List everything in a single column with -1. This is useful when you want to copy/paste a directory.

> ls -1
README.md
assets
index.html

Add a trailing slash to directories with -F. Also can be useful for copy/pasting purposes.

> ls -1F
README.md
assets/
index.html

Unix things I always forget

This series is an attempt to document the Unix commands I know, and the ones I occasionally need.

Follow along, and you might learn some tricks along the way! Consider this series a living document that will grow organically; I won't be updating or adding new posts on a set schedule.

  1. Introduction
  2. Listing directories
  3. Finding files (by filename)
  4. Finding files (by content)
  5. Permissions
  6. Rsync

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