Find Files Less Than a Specific Size using Bash

If you need to find files less than a certain size using Bash, the find command is your best bet. Whether you’re cleaning up your system, managing logs, or just looking for small files, this command makes it quick and easy.

Find Files Smaller Than a Specific Size

The basic format to search for files smaller than a certain size is:

find /your/directory -type f -size -Xs

Here’s what each part means:

• /your/directory – The folder where you want to search.
• -type f – Only looks for files (ignores directories).
• -size -Xs – Finds files smaller than X size.
  • s = bytes
  • k = kilobytes
  • M = megabytes
  • G = gigabytes

Example: Find Files Smaller Than 500KB

If you want to locate files under 500KB in the Documents folder, use this:

find /home/user/Documents -type f -size -500k

This will return a list of all files in that folder that are less than 500KB.

Example: Find Small Files and Show Details

If you want to list details like size and permissions, try this:

find /var/log -type f -size -1M -exec ls -lh {} +

This is useful when searching for small log files since ls -lh shows file sizes in human-readable format.

Example: Delete Small Files (Use With Caution!)

If you’re sure you want to remove files below a certain size, you can do:

find /tmp -type f -size -100k -delete

This will permanently delete any file under 100KB in the /tmp folder. Be extra careful with this command!

FAQs

Wrapping Up

Using Bash to find small files is a handy trick, especially when cleaning up disk space or managing system logs. The find command gives you control over which files you target, whether you’re listing, filtering, or even deleting them. Try it out and see how much clutter you can clear!