Linux File Operations Cheat Sheet

List Files

List files in directory.

ls

Long format with details:

ls -l

Show hidden files:

ls -la

Human-readable sizes:

ls -lh

Sort by modification time:

ls -lt

Recursive listing:

ls -R

Copy Files

Copy file to destination.

cp source.txt destination.txt

Copy directory recursively:

cp -r /source/dir /dest/dir

Preserve attributes:

cp -p file.txt /backup/

Interactive mode (prompt before overwrite):

cp -i file.txt /dest/

Verbose output:

cp -v file.txt /dest/

Move/Rename Files

Move or rename file.

mv oldname.txt newname.txt

Move to directory:

mv file.txt /path/to/directory/

Move multiple files:

mv file1.txt file2.txt /dest/

Interactive mode:

mv -i file.txt /dest/

Remove Files

Delete a file.

rm file.txt

Remove directory and contents:

rm -r directory/

Force removal without prompt:

rm -f file.txt

Interactive removal:

rm -i file.txt

Remove empty directory:

rmdir emptydir/

Create Directory

Make a new directory.

mkdir newdir

Create parent directories as needed:

mkdir -p path/to/nested/dir

Set permissions while creating:

mkdir -m 755 newdir

Create File

Create empty file or update timestamp.

touch newfile.txt

Create multiple files:

touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

View File Contents

Display entire file.

cat file.txt

View with line numbers:

cat -n file.txt

View first N lines:

head -n 20 file.txt

View last N lines:

tail -n 20 file.txt

Follow file updates (log files):

tail -f log.txt

File Information

Display file details.

file document.pdf

Show file statistics:

stat file.txt

Create Link

Create symbolic link.

ln -s /path/to/file linkname

Create hard link:

ln /path/to/file hardlink

Compare Files

Show differences between files.

diff file1.txt file2.txt

Unified format:

diff -u file1.txt file2.txt

Tree View

Display directory structure.

tree

Limit depth:

tree -L 2