Linux: How to List Only Hidden Files And Directories
This post will guide you how to recursively list all hidden files and directories on Linux operating system. How do I show only hidden files in Linux. How do I only list hidden directories in a given directory on Linux.
List All Hidden Files with ls command
You can use ls command to list all files in a given directory in Linux, and the hidden files are not listed by default using ls command. If you want to list all hidden files in a directory using ls command, you need to pass -a or -al option to ls command. type the following command:
# ls -a
or
# ls -la
Outputs:
devops@devops-osetc:~$ ls Desktop Documents Downloads examples.desktop fio.cc fio.txt Music Pict devops@devops-osetc:~$ ls -a . .bashrc .dmrc fio.cc .ICEauthority .mysql_hist .. .cache Documents fio.txt .lesshst Pictures .bash_history .config Downloads .gconf .local .profile .bash_logout Desktop examples.desktop .gnupg Music Public devops@devops-osetc:~$ ls -la total 144 drwxr-xr-x 16 devops devops 4096 Dec 19 21:23 . drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Jul 24 2017 .. -rw------- 1 devops devops 4884 Dec 20 06:18 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 220 Jul 24 2017 .bash_logout -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 3791 Aug 1 2017 .bashrc drwx------ 12 devops devops 4096 Aug 1 2017 .cache drwx------ 14 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .config drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Desktop -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 25 Jul 24 2017 .dmrc drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Documents drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Downloads -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 8980 Jul 24 2017 examples.desktop -rw-rw-r-- 1 devops devops 99 Jul 31 2017 fio.cc -rw-rw-r-- 1 devops devops 20 Aug 1 2017 fio.txt drwx------ 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .gconf drwx------ 3 devops devops 4096 Dec 18 21:27 .gnupg -rw------- 1 devops devops 2112 Dec 18 21:27 .ICEauthority -rw------- 1 devops devops 36 Aug 1 2017 .lesshst drwx------ 3 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .local drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Music -rw------- 1 devops devops 614 Aug 1 2017 .mysql_history drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Pictures -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 655 Jul 24 2017 .profile drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Public -rw------- 1 devops devops 43 Aug 3 2017 .rediscli_history -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 0 Jul 24 2017 .sudo_as_admin_successful drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Templates drwxr-xr-x 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 Videos -rw------- 1 devops devops 3956 Dec 19 21:23 .viminfo -rw-rw-r-- 1 devops devops 11 Dec 19 01:37 .vimrc drwxrwxr-x 3 devops devops 4096 Dec 20 02:46 working -rw------- 1 devops devops 119 Dec 18 21:27 .Xauthority -rw------- 1 devops devops 82 Dec 18 21:27 .xsession-errors -rw------- 1 devops devops 82 Jul 31 2017 .xsession-errors.old
If you want to only list all hidden files in a directory using ls command, you can use one of the following commands:
# ls -d .[!.]?*
or
# ls -l -d .[!.]?*
Outputs:
devops@devops-osetc:~$ ls -d .[!.]?* .bash_history .dmrc .local .viminfo .bash_logout .gconf .mysql_history .vimrc .bashrc .gnupg .profile .Xauthority .cache .ICEauthority .rediscli_history .xsession-errors .config .lesshst .sudo_as_admin_successful .xsession-errors.old devops@devops-osetc:~$ ls -l -d .[!.]?* -rw------- 1 devops devops 4884 Dec 20 06:18 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 220 Jul 24 2017 .bash_logout -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 3791 Aug 1 2017 .bashrc drwx------ 12 devops devops 4096 Aug 1 2017 .cache drwx------ 14 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .config -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 25 Jul 24 2017 .dmrc drwx------ 2 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .gconf drwx------ 3 devops devops 4096 Dec 18 21:27 .gnupg -rw------- 1 devops devops 2112 Dec 18 21:27 .ICEauthority -rw------- 1 devops devops 36 Aug 1 2017 .lesshst drwx------ 3 devops devops 4096 Jul 24 2017 .local -rw------- 1 devops devops 614 Aug 1 2017 .mysql_history -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 655 Jul 24 2017 .profile -rw------- 1 devops devops 43 Aug 3 2017 .rediscli_history -rw-r--r-- 1 devops devops 0 Jul 24 2017 .sudo_as_admin_successful -rw------- 1 devops devops 3956 Dec 19 21:23 .viminfo -rw-rw-r-- 1 devops devops 11 Dec 19 01:37 .vimrc -rw------- 1 devops devops 119 Dec 18 21:27 .Xauthority -rw------- 1 devops devops 82 Dec 18 21:27 .xsession-errors -rw------- 1 devops devops 82 Jul 31 2017 .xsession-errors.old
Recursively List All Hidden Files and Directories
If you want to list all hidden files recursively in a given directory, you need to use find command to achieve the result.
For example, you need to show all hidden files in /home/devops directory and its sub-directories, you can use the following command:
# find /home/devops -name ".*" -print
Outputs:
devops@devops-osetc:~$ find /home/devops -name ".*" -print /home/devops/.sudo_as_admin_successful /home/devops/.gnupg /home/devops/.profile /home/devops/.bash_history /home/devops/.bash_logout /home/devops/.lesshst /home/devops/.mysql_history /home/devops/.cache /home/devops/.gconf /home/devops/.dmrc /home/devops/.xsession-errors.old /home/devops/.local /home/devops/.local/share/.converted-launchers /home/devops/.vimrc /home/devops/.xsession-errors /home/devops/.rediscli_history /home/devops/.config /home/devops/.viminfo /home/devops/.bashrc /home/devops/.ICEauthority /home/devops/.Xauthority
If you only want to list all hidden normal files, type the following command:
# find /home/devops -type f -name ".*" -print
Outputs:
devops@devops-osetc:~$ find /home/devops -type f -name ".*" -print /home/devops/.sudo_as_admin_successful /home/devops/.profile /home/devops/.bash_history /home/devops/.bash_logout /home/devops/.lesshst /home/devops/.mysql_history /home/devops/.dmrc /home/devops/.xsession-errors.old /home/devops/.local/share/.converted-launchers /home/devops/.vimrc /home/devops/.xsession-errors /home/devops/.rediscli_history /home/devops/.viminfo /home/devops/.bashrc /home/devops/.ICEauthority /home/devops/.Xauthority
If you want to only show all hidden directories, type the following command:
# find /home/devops -type d -name ".*" -print
Outputs:
devops@devops-osetc:~$ find /home/devops -type d -name ".*" -print /home/devops/.gnupg /home/devops/.cache /home/devops/.gconf /home/devops/.local /home/devops/.config
