find Command Cheat Sheet — All Flags & Usage Examples

Originally published at commandinline.com.

The find command searches a directory tree by name, type, time, size, permissions, or any combination — and runs an action on every match. It is the most powerful filesystem tool on Linux, and the one that rewards memorizing a few core flags. This sheet maps the flags to real tasks and pairs with locate for fast database queries and find -exec deep dive.

Quick Reference

find takes a path, a series of expressions (filters), and optionally an action. The default action is -print. Expressions combine with implicit AND; use -o for OR and ! or -not for negation.

Syntax & Common Options

Form: find [PATH...] [EXPRESSION].

find . -name '*.log'                   # by name
find /etc -type f                      # files only
find / -type d -name nginx             # directories named nginx
find . -mtime -1                       # modified in the last 24h
find . -size +100M                     # bigger than 100 MB
find . -perm /u+w                      # any user-write set
find . -name '*.tmp' -delete           # deletion action
find . -type f -exec wc -l {} +        # batched exec
find . -name node_modules -prune       # do not descend into node_modules

Syntax

Path first, then expressions. Expressions before -name are options (e.g., -maxdepth); after are tests and actions.

find . -maxdepth 2 -type f -name '*.py'
find . \( -name '*.log' -o -name '*.tmp' \) -delete

Quick Reference Table

The most-used tests and actions.

Tests:
-name PATTERN        glob match (case sensitive)
-iname               case-insensitive
-type f|d|l|c|b|p|s  file type
-size +N|-N c|k|M|G  size (c=bytes, M=MiB)
-mtime ±N            modified N*24h ago (- newer, + older)
-mmin ±N             minutes
-newer FILE          modified more recently than FILE
-perm /MODE          any of these mode bits set
-perm -MODE          all of these mode bits set
-user NAME           by owner
-group NAME          by group
-empty               empty file or dir
-path PATTERN        match full path

Actions:
-print               default; print path
-print0              NUL-separated for xargs -0
-delete              remove matched files
-exec cmd {} \;      one cmd per match (slow)
-exec cmd {} +       batched (fast)
-prune               do not descend into matched directory

Common Flags

Two patterns dominate: filter by name+type, then act with -exec ... + or -delete.

# Delete logs older than 14 days
find /var/log -type f -name '*.log' -mtime +14 -delete

# Run a command on each match (batched is much faster)
find . -name '*.py' -exec wc -l {} +

Practical Examples

Real-world hunts.

# Files modified in the last hour
find /var/log -mmin -60

# All world-writable files (security audit)
find / -xdev -type f -perm -o+w 2>/dev/null

# Empty directories
find . -type d -empty

# Find and grep (NUL-safe)
find . -type f -name '*.conf' -print0 | xargs -0 grep -l TLS

# Skip noisy directories
find . \( -name node_modules -o -name .git \) -prune -o -type f -name '*.js' -print

# Files larger than 1 GB
find / -xdev -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null

# Files newer than another (rebuild trigger)
find src -newer build/.last -type f

Tips and Tricks

Patterns from production scripts.

# Stay on one filesystem (do not cross mount points)
find / -xdev ...

# NUL-safe pipeline
find . -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sha256sum

# Group expressions with escaped parens
find . \( -name '*.bak' -o -name '*.tmp' \) -delete

# Time precision: use -newermt for human dates
find . -newermt '2024-01-01' ! -newermt '2024-02-01'

Common Pitfalls

find: paths must precede expression — you placed an option after a test. Move -maxdepth, -mindepth, etc. before any -name/-type tests.
find: missing argument to -exec — you forgot the terminator. -exec ends with \; (one cmd per match) or + (batched).

Pro Tips

Always prefer -exec ... + over -exec ... \; for batched commands — orders of magnitude faster on big trees.
Use -prune instead of post-grep filtering to skip node_modules, .git, etc. — find never descends, saving I/O.
For regex on full paths, use -regex with -regextype posix-extended; -name only matches the basename.
Pair -print0 with xargs -0 when filenames may contain spaces or newlines.