# find ## Introduction The find command is used to search for files in a directory hierarchy. *** ## Syntax `find [-H] [-L] [-P] [-D debugopts] [-Olevel] [starting-point...] [expression]` *** ## Important Flags

Flag	Description
`-H`	Follow symbolic links on command line only.
`-L`	Follow all symbolic links.
`-P`	Never follow symbolic links.
`-D`	Process debugging option.
`-name`	Matches files/directories by name.
`-type`	Matches files by type.
`-perm`	Matches files by permission.
`-user`	Matches files by owner.
`-mtime`	Matches files by modification time.
`-atime`	Matches files by access time.
`-cmin`	Matches files by changed minutes ago.
`-amin`	Matches files by accessed minutes ago.
`-size`	Matches files by size.
`-writable`	Matches files that are writable.

*** ## Examples

Command	Description
`man find`	Read the manual for the find command
`find . -name flag1.txt`	find the file named “flag1.txt” in the current directory
`find /home -name flag1.txt`	find the file names “flag1.txt” in the /home directory
`find / -type d -name config`	find the directory named config under “/”
`find / -type f -perm 0777`	find files with the 777 permissions (files readable, writable, and executable by all users)
`find / -perm a=x`	find executable files
`find /home -user frank`	find all files for user “frank” under “/home”
`find / -mtime 10`	find files that were modified in the last 10 days
`find / -atime 10`	find files that were accessed in the last 10 day
`find / -cmin -60`	find files changed within the last hour (60 minutes)
`find / -amin -60`	find files accesses within the last hour (60 minutes)
`find / -size 50M`	find files with a 50 MB size
`find / -size +100M`	find files that are larger than 100 MB
`find / -size +100M -type f 2>/dev/null`	redirect errors to “/dev/null” and have a cleaner output
`find / -writable -type d 2>/dev/null`	Find world-writeable folders
`find / -perm -222 -type d 2>/dev/null`	Find world-writeable folders
`find / -perm -o w -type d 2>/dev/null`	Find world-writeable folders
`find / -perm -o x -type d 2>/dev/null`	Find world-executable folders
`find / -name perl*`	Find files/directories named "gcc*"
`find / -name python*`	Find files with setuid, suppress errors
`find / -name gcc*`	Find setuid files, suppress errors
`find / -perm -u=s -type f 2>/dev/null`	Find files with the SUID bit
`find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null`	Find files with the SUID bit
`find [directory path] -type f -newerat [start date range] ! -newerat [end date range]`	Find files based on date accessed
`find [directory path] -type f -newermt [start date range] ! -newermt [end date range]`	Find files based on date modified
`find [directory path] -type f -newermt '[date and time]'`	Find files modified after a specific date
`find [directory path] -type f -group [group name]`	Find files based on group name
`find [directory] -type l ! -exec test -e {} \; -print`	To perform the search and locate the links that do not work (Find Broken Symbolic Links)