LS(1)

NAME
ls - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

-a, --all
    do not ignore entries starting with .

-A, --almost-all
    do not list implied . and ..

--author
    with -l, print the author of each file

-b, --escape
    print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters

--block-size=SIZE
    with -l, scale sizes by SIZE when printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'; see SIZE format below

-B, --ignore-backups
    do not list implied entries ending with ~

-c  with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last modification of file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name; otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first

-C  list entries by columns

--color[=WHEN]
    colorize the output; WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'; more info below

-d, --directory
    list directories themselves, not their contents

-D, --dired
    generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode

-f  list all entries in directory order

-F, --classify[=WHEN]
    append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries; WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'

--file-type
    likewise, except do not append '*'

--format=WORD
    across -x, commas -m, horizontal -x, long -l, single-column -1, verbose -l, vertical -C

--full-time
    like -l --time-style=full-iso

-g  like -l, but do not list owner

--group-directories-first
    group directories before files;

    can be augmented with a --sort option, but any use of --sort=none (-U) disables grouping

-G, --no-group
    in a long listing, don't print group names

-h, --human-readable
    with -l and -s, print sizes like 1K 234M 2G etc.

--si
    likewise, but use powers of 1000 not 1024

-H, --dereference-command-line
    follow symbolic links listed on the command line

--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir
    follow each command line symbolic link

    that points to a directory

--hide=PATTERN
    do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN (overridden by -a or -A)

--hyperlink[=WHEN]
    hyperlink file names; WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'

--indicator-style=WORD
    append indicator with style WORD to entry names: none (default), slash (-p), file-type (--file-type), classify (-F)

-i, --inode
    print the index number of each file

-I, --ignore=PATTERN
    do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN

-k, --kibibytes
    default to 1024-byte blocks for file system usage; used only with -s and per directory totals

-l  use a long listing format

-L, --dereference
    when showing file information for a symbolic link, show information for the file the link references rather than for the link itself

-m  fill width with a comma separated list of entries

-n, --numeric-uid-gid
    like -l, but list numeric user and group IDs

-N, --literal
    print entry names without quoting

-o  like -l, but do not list group information

-p, --indicator-style=slash
    append / indicator to directories

-q, --hide-control-chars
    print ? instead of nongraphic characters

--show-control-chars
    show nongraphic characters as-is (the default, unless program is 'ls' and output is a terminal)

-Q, --quote-name
    enclose entry names in double quotes

--quoting-style=WORD
    use quoting style WORD for entry names: literal, locale, shell, shell-always, shell-escape, shell-escape-always, c, escape (overrides QUOTING_STYLE environment variable)

-r, --reverse
    reverse order while sorting

-R, --recursive
    list subdirectories recursively

-s, --size
    print the allocated size of each file, in blocks

-S  sort by file size, largest first

--sort=WORD
    sort by WORD instead of name: none (-U), size (-S), time (-t), version (-v), extension (-X), width

--time=WORD
    change the default of using modification times; access time (-u): atime, access, use; change time (-c): ctime, status; birth time: birth, creation;

    with -l, WORD determines which time to show; with --sort=time, sort by WORD (newest first)

--time-style=TIME_STYLE
    time/date format with -l; see TIME_STYLE below

-t  sort by time, newest first; see --time

-T, --tabsize=COLS
    assume tab stops at each COLS instead of 8

-u  with -lt: sort by, and show, access time; with -l: show access time and sort by name; otherwise: sort by access time, newest first

-U  do not sort; list entries in directory order

-v  natural sort of (version) numbers within text

-w, --width=COLS
    set output width to COLS. 0 means no limit

-x  list entries by lines instead of by columns

-X  sort alphabetically by entry extension

-Z, --context
    print any security context of each file

--zero
    end each output line with NUL, not newline

-1  list one file per line

--help
    display this help and exit

--version
    output version information and exit

The SIZE argument is an integer and optional unit (example: 10K is 10*1024). Units are K,M,G,T,P,E,Z,Y (powers of 1024) or KB,MB,... (powers of 1000). Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

The TIME_STYLE argument can be full-iso, long-iso, iso, locale, or +FORMAT. FORMAT is interpreted like in date(1). If FORMAT is FORMAT1<newline>FORMAT2, then FORMAT1 applies to non-recent files and FORMAT2 to recent files. TIME_STYLE prefixed with 'posix-' takes effect only outside the POSIX locale. Also the TIME_STYLE environment variable sets the default style to use.

Using color to distinguish file types is disabled both by default and with --color=never. With --color=auto, ls emits color codes only when standard output is connected to a terminal. The LS_COLORS environment variable can change the settings. Use the dircolors command to set it.

  Exit status:

0   if OK,

1   if minor problems (e.g., cannot access subdirectory),

2   if serious trouble (e.g., cannot access command-line argument).

AUTHOR
Written by Richard M. Stallman and David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ls>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ls invocation'