GNU find

Cheat sheet

	Effect	Option	Example
Name	find by name	`-name name`	`find . -name sshd_config` `find . -name \*.conf`
	find by name (case insensitive)	`-iname name`	`find . -iname \.jpg` `find . -iname \english\*`
	find by name (regular expression)	`-regex pattern`	`find . -regex '.*txt'`
Type	find regular files	`-type f`	`find . -type f`
	find directories	`-type d`	`find . -type d`
	find symbolic links	`-type l`	`find . -type l`
	find named pipes	`-type p`	`find / -type p`
	find sockets	`-type s`	`find / -type s`
Size	find by size	`-size [+\|-]n[k\|M\|G]`	`find . -size +2G`
Time	modified days ago	`-mtime [+\|-]n`	`find . -mtime +14` `find . -mtime +2 -mtime -7`
	modified minutes ago	`-mmin [+\|-]n`	`find . -mmin -120`
	created days ago	`-ctime [+\|-]n`	`find . -ctime +14` `find . -ctime +2 -ctime -7`
	created minutes ago	`-cmin [+\|-]n`	`find . -cmin -120`
	accessed days ago	`-atime [+\|-]n`	`find . -atime +14` `find . -atime +2 -atime -7`
	accessed minutes ago	`-amin [+\|-]n`	`find . -amin -120`
Comparison	modified more recently than	`-newer file`	`find . -newer old_file.txt`
	created more recently than	`-cnewer file`	`find . -cnewer old_file.txt`
	accessed more recently than	`-anewer file`	`find . -anewer old_file.txt`
Permissions	find by file permissions	`-perm mode`	`find . -perm -o=x`
	find only user-readable files	`-readable`	`find / -readable -name config`
	find only user-writable files	`-writable`	`find / -writable -name config`
	find only user-executable files	`-executable`	`find / -executable -name config`
	find files owned by user	`-user user`	`find /tmp -user alice`
	find files owned by user	`-uid n`	`find . -uid 1001`
	find files owned by group	`-group group`	`find /tmp -group video`
	find files owned by group	`-gid n`	`find . -gid 1001`
Search depth	descend exactly n levels	`-depth n`	`find / -depth 1`
	descend into n levels	`-maxdepth n`	`find . -name example -depth 1`
	descend at least n levels	`-mindepth n`	`find / –mindepth 2 –name bin –type d`
	don't descend into other file systems	`-mount`	`find / -name test –mount`
	follow symbolic links	`-L`	`find -L / -name test`
Hardlinks	search for files that refer to same inode	`-samefile file`	`find / -samefile test.mkv`
Hardlinks	file has n hard links	`-links n`	`find . -links 1`
Actions	execute command on results	`-exec $COMMAND {} +`	`find . -type d -exec rm {} +`

More examples

Change UID of files	`find . -uid 1000 -exec chown $NEWUSER {} +`
Change GID of files	`find . -gid 1000 -exec chgrp $NEWGROUP {} +`