Mastering the ls Command: 20 Essential Options You Need to Know

ls command overview

The ls utility lists files and directories in the current working directory. By default it prints only the names; adding options changes the format, sorting, and displayed metadata.

1. Run without arguments

Simply typing ls lists the entries in the current directory.

ls

2. Long listing format

Use -l to display a detailed list that includes permissions, link count, owner, group, size, modification time, and name.

ls -l

The columns are interpreted as follows:

Column 1 – file type (d for directory, – for regular file, l for symlink) and permission bits.

Column 2 – number of hard links.

Column 3 – owner name.

Column 4 – group name.

Column 5 – size in bytes (directories usually report 4096 bytes).

Column 6 – last modification timestamp.

Column 7 – file or directory name.

3. Human‑readable sizes

Combine -h with -l to show sizes in KiB, MiB, etc.

ls -lh

The --si option works like -h but uses powers of 1000 instead of 1024.

ls -si

4. Sort by file size

Use -S (often together with -lh) to sort entries from largest to smallest.

ls -lhS

5. Custom block size

Specify --block-size=SIZE to display sizes in a chosen unit (e.g., M for megabytes).

ls -l --block-size=M

6. Show hidden files

Files whose names start with a dot are hidden; -a lists them.

ls -a

7. List only directories

Use -d */ to display directory entries without recursing into them.

ls -d */

8. Omit owner information

Use -g to hide the owner column.

ls -g

9. Omit group information

Use -G or --no-group to hide the group column.

ls -lG

10. Numeric UID/GID

Use -n to display numeric user and group IDs.

ls -n

11. Disable colorized output

Some distributions enable color; --color=never turns it off.

ls --color=never

12. Show inode numbers

Use -i to prepend the inode number to each entry.

ls -li

13. Append '/' to directories

Use -p to add a trailing slash to directory names.

ls -p

14. Reverse sort order

Use -r to invert the sorting order.

ls -r

15. Recursive listing

Use -R to list directories and all of their descendants.

ls -R

16. Sort by extension

Use -X or --sort=extension to group files by their extensions.

ls -lX

17. Sort by modification time

Use -t to list newest files first.

ls -lt

18. List home directory

Use the tilde ~ as a shortcut for the current user's home directory.

ls ~

19. List parent directories

Use .. to refer to the parent directory; multiple .. components can be chained.

ls ../
ls ../../

20. Show version

Use --version to display the program version.

ls --version

Summary

These options cover the most common use‑cases for ls. For additional details, consult the manual page with man ls or ls --help.