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find Command Examples Cheat Sheet

Locate files by name, type, size, and time using find with safe actions and command execution.

What this cheat sheet is for

This find command examples reference helps you complete common developer tasks quickly and avoid repeated trial-and-error when working under deadlines.

  • When you need a reliable command or pattern during debugging and incident response.
  • When you are implementing a feature and want a known-good syntax example immediately.
  • When onboarding teammates and documenting repeatable workflows for daily use.
  • When reviewing pull requests and verifying that command usage follows best practices.
  • Find large files eating disk space.
  • Delete old temp files automatically.
  • Run chmod or grep only on matched paths.

Find by name, type, and path

Find files by name pattern

find . -name "*.log"

Example:

find /var/www -type f -name "*.php"

Find directories only

find . -type d -name "node_modules"

Example:

find /etc -maxdepth 2 -type d

Find by time and size

Files modified in last day

find . -mtime -1

Example:

find /var/log -type f -mmin -30

Large files over 100MB

find / -type f -size +100M

Example:

find . -type f -size +10M -name "*.sql"

Execute actions safely

Delete matched files

find . -type f -name "*.tmp" -delete

Example:

find /tmp -type f -mtime +7 -print -delete

Run command on matches

find . -name "*.sh" -exec chmod +x {} \;

Example:

find . -name "*.log" -exec grep -H "ERROR" {} \;

Common mistakes / Pitfalls

  • Running find from / without constraints can be very slow and noisy.
  • Using -exec rm without preview can delete critical files accidentally.
  • Path patterns differ between -name and -path; test with -print first.

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Last updated: February 2026