ls -l command in Linux

ls -l option flag lists with long listing format.

Syntax

$ ls -l [options] [file|dir]

Examples

ls, default list with short format:

$ ls
Desktop   Downloads Pictures Templates Videos
Documents Music     Public   todo.txt
$

 

ls -l, long listing format:

$ ls -l
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
$

 

ls -la, long listing format with hidden files:

$ ls -la
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 25 user user  680 2011-08-17 18:07 .
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root   60 2011-08-17 16:19 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 user user  220 2011-08-17 16:19 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--  1 user user 3353 2011-08-17 16:19 .bashrc
drwx------  7 user user  220 2011-08-17 17:58 .cache
drwx------  9 user user  220 2011-08-17 18:02 .config
drwx------  3 user user   60 2011-08-17 16:19 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
-rw-------  1 user user   16 2011-08-17 16:20 .esd_auth
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user  100 2011-08-17 17:56 .fontconfig
drwx------  4 user user   80 2011-08-17 16:52 .gconf
drwx------  2 user user   60 2011-08-17 18:14 .gconfd
drwx------  5 user user  100 2011-08-17 16:52 .gnome2
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   60 2011-08-17 17:58 .gstreamer-0.10
-rw-r--r--  1 user user  142 2011-08-17 16:52 .gtk-bookmarks
dr-x------  2 user user    0 2011-08-17 16:52 .gvfs
-rw-------  1 user user  318 2011-08-17 16:52 .ICEauthority
drwxr-xr-x  3 user user   60 2011-08-17 17:56 .libreoffice
drwxr-xr-x  3 user user   60 2011-08-17 16:52 .local
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 .nautilus
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user  120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
-rw-r--r--  1 user user  675 2011-08-17 16:19 .profile
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwx------  2 user user  160 2011-08-17 16:20 .pulse
-rw-------  1 user user  256 2011-08-17 16:20 .pulse-cookie
drwxr-xr-x  5 user user  100 2011-08-17 17:58 .shotwell
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
drwx------  3 user user   60 2011-08-17 18:02 .thumbnails
-rw-r--r--  1 user user  131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
-rw-------  1 user user 8030 2011-08-17 18:16 .xsession-errors
$

 

ls -lh, long listing format with file size in human readable form:

$ ls -lh
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user   3K 2011-08-22 19:47 todo1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 1.8K 2011-08-22 18:07 todo2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user   5K 2011-08-22 18:07 todo3.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
$

 

Long listing format with file size:

$ ls -ls
total 4
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 user user  131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user   40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
$

 

Long listing format sorted by file size:

$ ls -lS
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
$

 

Long listing format sorted by date/time:

$ ls -lt
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
$

 

Long listing format in reverse order:

$ ls -lr
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
$

 

Long listing format sorted by date/time in reverse order:

$ ls -ltr
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
$

 

Long listing format with recursive list:

$ ls -lR
.:
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  80 2011-08-17 16:52 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 120 2011-08-17 18:14 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Public
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Templates
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 131 2011-08-17 18:07 todo.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user  40 2011-08-17 16:52 Videos

./Desktop:
total 12
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user  203 2011-08-17 16:52 examples.desktop
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user 7672 2011-08-17 16:19 ubiquity-gtkui.desktop

./Documents:
total 0

./Downloads:
total 0

./Music:
total 0

./Pictures:
total 556
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  94114 2011-08-17 18:13 ls-a.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 254129 2011-08-17 18:14 ls-full-path.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 102761 2011-08-17 18:13 ls-l.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  77374 2011-08-17 18:12 ls-s.png

./Public:
total 0

./Templates:
total 0

./Videos:
total 0
$

 


See also

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