File Management Commands in Linux
Once you have a little bit of idea about the terminal, Linux command structure, path and directory hierarchy system, you should know about handling files in Linux.
As a Linux user, you have to deal with all kinds of files and all kinds of file operations.
You should know how to display the contents of files, create new files, change their properties. You should also know how to look for files and edit them.
In this section of Linux Handbook, you'll learn about various Linux commands that you can use for file managements.
I have categorized the commands into sections so that it is easier for you to follow.
Basic file commands
Form listing files to copying them, these commands will help you.
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ls | List files in a directory | ls command examples |
| cp | Copy files and directories | cp command examples |
| mv | Move (rename) files and directories | mv command examples |
| ln | Create links to files and directories | ln command examples |
Directory operation commands
These commands will handle creating, moving around and removing directories.
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cd | Navigate between directories | cd command |
| mkdir | Create new directories | mkdir command |
| rmdir | Delete the empty directories | rmdir command |
File viewing commands
View the contents of a file in Linux terminal with these commands:
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cat | Join several input files by sequentially or display contents | cat command |
| head | Print a specified number of lines from the beginning of the file | head command |
| tail | Outputs the last parts of a single file or multiple files | tail command |
| less | Viewing text files | less command |
| more | Opens a text file in page views | more command |
File editing commands
Edit files in the terminal with these editors:
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vim | Popular command line text editor | Vim commands |
| Emacs | Popular Text Editor | Emacs commands |
File properties commands
Learn about the timestamps, size, number of lines and many more such attributes of files with these commands:
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wc | Count the number of lines, words and characters of text file | wc command |
| chgrp | Changing the group of a file or directory | chgrp command |
| touch | Changing file timestamps/creating new empty file | touch command |
| chmod | Changing the mode of access | chmod command |
| du | Checking the size of directory | du command |
| file | Determine actual type of file and related information | file command |
| stat | Get file attribute information | stat command |
| chown | Change user and group ownership of a file/directory | chown command |
| chattr | Make a file 'undeletable' even by root | chattr command |
File searching commands
These commands will let you search for files on your system.
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| which | Locates an executable file in your shell’s search path | which command |
| locate | Preform a super quick search for files | locate command |
| xargs | Build and execute commands from standard input | xargs command |
| find | Searching for files and directories | find command |
File manipulation commands
Manipulate the output of text files with these commands
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| grep | Find patterns in files | grep command |
| cut | Removing “columns” or data on each line of a text file | cut command |
| paste | Merges several input files to produce a new delimited text file | paste command |
| tee | Reads from standard input and writes to both standard output and files | tee command |
| expand | Convert the tabs into spaces | expand command |
| tr | Translating one type of characters into another | tr command |
| sort | Sorting the contents of the text files | sort command |
| uniq | Filtering duplicate text from a file | uniq command |
Creator of Linux Handbook and It's FOSS. An ardent Linux user & open source promoter. Huge fan of classic detective mysteries from Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes to Columbo & Ellery Queen.