Use . for current directory, an absolute path like /var/log, or multiple space-separated paths. Put a path that has spaces in quotes: "My Documents".
generated command
$ find .
⚠ This command contains characters that have special meaning in the shell (such as $, `, ;, |, &). Review the command carefully before pasting into a terminal.
⚠ Warning: the command you typed for -exec, -execdir or -ok goes into the command exactly as typed, not quoted, because it is meant to be run as a command. Use care: check it before you run it, especially anything that deletes, moves or changes files.
// findcraft — find reference
find walks a directory tree and applies predicates (tests) and actions to each file it visits. Predicates are AND-ed by default. The default action, if none is given, is -print.
find [path] [predicates] [actions]
predicate syntax
Most predicates take an argument right after the flag. Glob patterns are matched against just the file name by default (use -path for the full path).
-name PATTERN
Match base name (case-sensitive glob, e.g. "*.log"). Quote to prevent shell expansion.
Larger than 100 MB. Suffixes: c=bytes, k=KiB, M=MiB, G=GiB.
-size -1k
Smaller than 1 KiB.
actions
-print
Default. Print each matching path.
-print0
Print null-terminated paths. Pair with xargs -0 for safe handling of filenames with spaces.
-delete
⚠ Remove each match. Always test first by replacing -delete with -print.
-exec CMD {} \;
Run CMD on each match. The {} is replaced by the file path; \; ends the command. One invocation per file.
-exec CMD {} +
Like above but batches as many files as fit into one invocation. Much faster.
-execdir CMD {} \;
Like -exec but runs from the directory containing the file. Safer than -exec.
-ok CMD {} \;
Like -exec but prompts before each.
common recipes
Find big files
find / -type f -size +100M 2>/dev/null
Recent edits
find . -type f -mtime -1
Empty directories
find . -type d -empty
By name, delete
find . -name "*.tmp" -delete
Find & grep
find . -name "*.py" -exec grep -l "TODO" {} +
Stop at depth 2
find . -maxdepth 2 -name "README*"
Owned by user
find /home -user alice -type f
Setuid binaries
find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null
tips
• For simple tests, order usually affects performance more than results — put fast tests first: -type f before -name, -name before -exec. But with actions such as -delete, -exec, -prune, or expressions using -o, order can change what happens. Test with -print first.
• To combine with OR or negate, edit the command manually: \( -name "*.log" -o -name "*.txt" \), ! -name ".*".
• Pipe error output to /dev/null when scanning / to hide permission warnings: find / ... 2>/dev/null.
• For files with spaces in names, always use -print0 | xargs -0 instead of | xargs.
safety & disclaimer
This is an educational tool. The commands it builds are real — they will do exactly what you tell them to. Some flags are destructive (deletion, overwriting, forced operations) and even non-destructive options can cause data loss or system trouble in the wrong circumstances.
• Always review the generated command before running it.
• Test on disposable files and directories first.
• If you do not understand what a flag does, look it up in the official manual page (man command).
The author of these pages is not responsible for any damage, data loss, or other consequences resulting from commands generated, copied, or run from this site. Use at your own risk.
