Finding files on Linux in all sorts of ways

The Linux find command can locate files based on almost any criteria that you might need. This post describes the many criteria you can use to find what you’re looking for – even when you can’t remember what you named a file or when you last changed it or added content.

Basic find syntax

The basic syntax for the find command looks like this:

$ find [starting location] [criteria] [options] [action to take]

The starting location can be a directory name (e.g., /var/log), the current directory (.), your home directory whether you’re sitting in it or not (~),…