ls – List Files and Directories

The ls command (short for “list”) displays the contents of a directory. It is one of the most fundamental and frequently used commands in Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD and macOS.

Syntax

ls [OPTION]... [DIRECTORY]...

If no directory is specified, ls lists the contents of the current directory.

Common Options

Option	Description
`-l`	Use a long listing format
`-a`	Show all files, including hidden files (starting with `.`)
`-h`	With `-l`, print sizes in human-readable format (e.g., `1K`, `234M`)
`-S`	Sort by file size, largest first
`-t`	Sort by modification time, newest first
`-r`	Reverse the order of the sort
`-d`	List directories themselves, not their contents
`-R`	List directories recursively
`-i`	Show the inode number of each file
`--color=auto`	Display files in color depending on type and permissions (if supported)

Practical Examples

1. List all files including hidden ones in long format

ls -la

Sample Output:

drwxr-xr-x  5 owner group     4096 Mar 19 21:30 .
drwxr-xr-x  4 owner group     4096 Mar 17 00:05 ..
drwxr-xr--  5 owner group     4096 Mar 17 2010 Artwork-Themes
-rw-r--r--  1 owner group      337 Mar 17 10:36 .bash_aliases
-rw-------  1 owner group      284 Mar 17 22:39 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--  1 owner group      414 Mar 17 00:05 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--  1 owner group      261 Mar 19 10:37 .bashrc
-rw-rw-r--  1 owner group   164926 May 18 2010 documentation.pdf

Column	Meaning
`drwxr-xr-x`	File type and permissions
`5`	Number of hard links
`owner`	File owner
`group`	File group
`4096`	File size in bytes
`Mar 19 21:30`	Last modification time
`.`	File or directory name

2. Display only directories in the current folder

ls -ld */

Sample Output:

drwxr-xr-x 6 user group 4096 Sep 23  2020 Pictures/
drwxr-xr-x 6 user group 4096 Apr  4 09:19 Documents/
drwxr-xr-x 2 user group 4096 Aug 22 08:09 Downloads/
...

3. Show file sizes in a human-readable format

ls -lh

4. Sort files by size

ls -lS

5. Sort files by modification date (newest first)

ls -lt

6. List all files in all subdirectories recursively

ls -R

7. Show inode numbers

ls -li

8. Colorized output (usually default in modern terminals)

ls --color=auto

Or with aliases:

alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias ll='ls -lah --color=auto'

Tips

Combine options for more powerful listing, e.g.:

ls -lahS

To make colorized ls permanent, add the alias to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.