LS

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: February 2026
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NAME

ls - list directory contents  

SYNOPSIS

ls [,OPTION/]... [,FILE/]...  

DESCRIPTION

List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-a'-a, --allX'tty: link'

do not ignore entries starting with .

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-A'-A, --almost-allX'tty: link'

do not list implied . and ..

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-author'--authorX'tty: link'

with -l, print the author of each file

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-b'-b, --escapeX'tty: link'

print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-bloc-size'--block-size=SIZEX'tty: link'

with -l, scale sizes by SIZE when printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'; see SIZE format below

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-B'-B, --ignore-backupsX'tty: link'

do not list implied entries ending with ~

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-c'-cX'tty: link'

with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last change of file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name; otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-C'-CX'tty: link'

list entries by columns

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-color'--color[=WHEN]X'tty: link'

color the output WHEN; more info below

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-d'-d, --directoryX'tty: link'

list directories themselves, not their contents

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-D'-D, --diredX'tty: link'

generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-f'-fX'tty: link'

same as -a -U

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-F'-F, --classify[=,WHEN]X'tty: link'/

append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries WHEN

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-fil-type'--file-typeX'tty: link'

like -F, except do not append '*'

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-format'--format=WORDX'tty: link'

across,horizontal (-x), commas (-m), long (-l), single-column (-1), verbose (-l), vertical (-C)

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-ful-time'--full-timeX'tty: link'

like -l --time-style=,full-iso/

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-g'-gX'tty: link'

like -l, but do not list owner

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-grou-directorie-first'--group-directories-firstX'tty: link'

group directories before files

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-G'-G, --no-groupX'tty: link'

in a long listing, don't print group names

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-h'-h, --human-readableX'tty: link'

with -l and -s, print sizes like 1K 234M 2G etc.

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-si'--siX'tty: link'

likewise, but use powers of 1000 not 1024

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-H'-H, --dereference-command-lineX'tty: link'

follow symbolic links listed on the command line

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-dereferenc-comman-lin-symlin-t-dir'--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dirX'tty: link'

follow each command line symbolic link that points to a directory

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-hide'--hide=PATTERNX'tty: link'

do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN (overridden by -a or -A)

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-hyperlink'--hyperlink[=WHEN]X'tty: link'

hyperlink file names WHEN

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-indicato-style'--indicator-style=WORDX'tty: link'

append indicator with style WORD to entry names: none (default), slash (-p), file-type (--file-type), classify (-F)

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-i'-i, --inodeX'tty: link'

print the index number of each file

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-I'-I, --ignore=,PATTERNX'tty: link'/

do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-k'-k, --kibibytesX'tty: link'

default to 1024-byte blocks for file system usage; used only with -s and per directory totals

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-l'-lX'tty: link'

use a long listing format

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-L'-L, --dereferenceX'tty: link'

when showing file information for a symbolic link, show information for the file the link references rather than for the link itself

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-m'-mX'tty: link'

fill width with a comma separated list of entries

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-n'-n, --numeric-uid-gidX'tty: link'

like -l, but list numeric user and group IDs

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-N'-N, --literalX'tty: link'

print entry names without quoting

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-o'-oX'tty: link'

like -l, but do not list group information

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-p'-p, --indicator-style=,slashX'tty: link'/

append / indicator to directories

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-q'-q, --hide-control-charsX'tty: link'

print ? instead of nongraphic characters

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-sho-contro-chars'--show-control-charsX'tty: link'

show nongraphic characters as-is; the default, unless program is 'ls' and output is a terminal

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-Q'-Q, --quote-nameX'tty: link'

enclose entry names in double quotes

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-quotin-style'--quoting-style=WORDX'tty: link'

use quoting style WORD for entry names: literal, locale, shell, shell-always, shell-escape, shell-escape-always, c, escape (overrides QUOTING_STYLE environment variable)

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-r'-r, --reverseX'tty: link'

reverse order while sorting

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-R'-R, --recursiveX'tty: link'

list subdirectories recursively

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-s'-s, --sizeX'tty: link'

print the allocated size of each file, in blocks

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-S'-SX'tty: link'

sort by file size, largest first

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-sort'--sort=WORDX'tty: link'

change default 'name' sort to WORD: none (-U), size (-S), time (-t), version (-v), extension (-X), name, width

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-time'--time=WORDX'tty: link'

select which timestamp used to display or sort; access time (-u): atime, access, use; metadata change time (-c): ctime, status; modified time (default): mtime, modification; birth time: birth, creation; with -l, WORD determines which time to show; with --sort=,time/, sort by WORD (newest first)

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-tim-style'--time-style=TIME_STYLEX'tty: link'

time/date format with -l; see TIME_STYLE below

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-t'-tX'tty: link'

sort by time, newest first; see --time

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-T'-T, --tabsize=,COLSX'tty: link'/

assume tab stops at each COLS instead of 8

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-u'-uX'tty: link'

with -lt: sort by, and show, access time; with -l: show access time and sort by name; otherwise: sort by access time, newest first

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-U'-UX'tty: link'

do not sort directory entries

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-v'-vX'tty: link'

natural sort of (version) numbers within text

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-w'-w, --width=,COLSX'tty: link'/

set output width to COLS. 0 means no limit

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-x'-xX'tty: link'

list entries by lines instead of by columns

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-X'-XX'tty: link'

sort alphabetically by entry extension

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-Z'-Z, --contextX'tty: link'

print any security context of each file

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-zero'--zeroX'tty: link'

end each output line with NUL, not newline

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#l-1'-1X'tty: link'

list one file per line

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ls#l-help'--helpX'tty: link'

display this help and exit

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ls#l-version'--versionX'tty: link'

output version information and exit

The SIZE argument is an integer and optional unit (example: 10K is 10*1024). Units are K,M,G,T,P,E,Z,Y,R,Q (powers of 1024) or KB,MB,... (powers of 1000). Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

The TIME_STYLE argument can be full-iso, long-iso, iso, locale, or +FORMAT. FORMAT is interpreted like in date(1). If FORMAT is FORMAT1<newline>FORMAT2, then FORMAT1 applies to non-recent files and FORMAT2 to recent files. TIME_STYLE prefixed with 'posix-' takes effect only outside the POSIX locale. Also the TIME_STYLE environment variable sets the default style to use.

The WHEN argument defaults to 'always' and can also be 'auto' or 'never'.

Using color to distinguish file types is disabled both by default and with --color=,never/. With --color=,auto/, ls emits color codes only when standard output is connected to a terminal. The LS_COLORS environment variable can change the settings. Use the dircolors(1) command to set it.  

Exit status:

0

if OK,

1

if minor problems (e.g., cannot access subdirectory),

2

if serious trouble (e.g., cannot access command-line argument).

 

AUTHOR

Written by Richard M. Stallman and David MacKenzie.  

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org

Report Gentoo bugs to: https://bugs.gentoo.org/
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>  

SEE ALSO

dircolors(1)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ls>
or available locally via: info aq(coreutils) ls invocationaq

Packaged by Gentoo (9.10 (p0))
Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

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Index

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Exit status:

AUTHOR

REPORTING BUGS

SEE ALSO