How to Find Recent Modified Files In Linux?

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To find recently modified files in Linux, you can use the find command combined with the -mtime option.


The general syntax for this command is:


find <directory> -mtime <n>


Here, <directory> represents the directory in which you want to search for modified files, and <n> indicates the number of 24-hour periods ago since the files were modified.


For example, if you want to find files modified within the last 24 hours in the current directory, you can use:


find . -mtime 0


If you want to find files modified within the last 7 days, you can use:


find . -mtime -7


This will display a list of files that have been modified within the specified timeframe.


Additionally, you can combine the -mtime option with other options to narrow down your search. For example:

  • -name can be used to specify a specific filename or pattern to search for.
  • -type can be used to search for specific file types (e.g., regular files, directories, symbolic links, etc.).
  • -size can be used to search for files of a specific size.


By combining these options, you can effectively search for and find recently modified files in Linux.

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How to find recently modified files by a specific file extension in Linux?

To find recently modified files by a specific file extension in Linux, you can use the find command with the -name and -mtime options.


The -name option allows you to specify the file extension you are searching for, and the -mtime option allows you to specify the time period for which you want to find the modified files.


Here is an example command to find recently modified files with the ".txt" extension within the last 7 days:

1
find /path/to/search -name "*.txt" -mtime -7


  • Replace /path/to/search with the directory or path where you want to search for the files.
  • "*.txt" specifies that you are looking for files with the ".txt" file extension. You can change this to any other file extension.
  • -mtime -7 indicates that you want to find files modified within the previous 7 days. If you want to search for a different time period, change the number accordingly. Use -mtime +7 to find files modified more than 7 days ago.


After running the command, you will see a list of recently modified files with the specified file extension in the output.


How to find recently modified files in Linux?

To find recently modified files in Linux, you can use the find command with the -mtime option. Here's how you can do it:

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Navigate to the directory where you want to search for recently modified files using the cd command. For example, to search in the home directory, you can use cd ~.
  3. Use the following command to find files modified within the last "n" days: find . -type f -mtime -n Replace "n" with the number of days you want to search for. For example, to find the files modified within the last 2 days, use -mtime -2. The period before the number (-) indicates "less than". If you use a plus sign (+) instead, it will find files modified "more than" the specified number of days. The -type f option ensures that only regular files are considered, excluding directories or other types of files. The . represents the current directory. You can replace it with the path to a specific directory if desired.
  4. Press Enter to execute the command.
  5. The command will list the recently modified files in the current directory and its subdirectories.


You can further enhance the command by adding additional conditions or filters to narrow down the search, such as searching only in a specific file extension, modifying the size, etc.


How to find recently modified hidden files in Linux?

To find recently modified hidden files in Linux, you can use the find command with the -mtime option.


Here's the command you can use:

1
find /path/to/directory -type f -iname ".*" -mtime -1


This command will search for hidden files (whose names start with a dot) in the specified directory and any subdirectories. The -mtime -1 flag specifies files modified within the last 24 hours. You can modify the number after -mtime to specify a different time range.


Alternatively, if you want to find hidden files modified in the last 60 minutes, you can use the following command:

1
find /path/to/directory -type f -iname ".*" -mmin -60


Again, you can modify the number after -mmin to specify a different time range.

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