ls Command Syntax for Files Sorting by Size in Linux

The ls command is most popular and very useful command for listing the content of directories. In this article, we will explain how to use  ls sort option to list directory content by size.

1) List Files in the directory by size (Sorting)

To list a content of a specific directory with size sorting, we will use -lS options with ls command. It will display files with the highest size at the top.

$ ls -lS /run

output
total 24
-rw-rw-r--.  1 root utmp 2304 Sep  8 14:58 utmp
drwxr-xr-x. 16 root root  400 Aug 21 13:18 systemd
drwxr-xr-x.  7 root root  160 Aug 26 14:59 udev
drwxr-xr-x.  4 root root  100 Aug 21 13:18 initramfs
drwxr-xr-x.  4 root root  100 Sep  8 03:31 lock
drwxr-xr-x.  3 root root  100 Aug 21 13:18 NetworkManager
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
drwxr-xr-x.  3 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 log
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 console
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
drwxr-x---.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld

To list with file size but it wont be sorted, we will use -s option with ls command.

$ ls -s

2) List Files with size (Reverse sorting)

To list the content of a specific directory with size reverse sorting (ie lowest size files be at top), we will use -lSr options with ls command.

Sort List of Lists in 30 Seconds

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Sort List of Lists in 30 Seconds

$ ls -lSr /run

output
total 24
-rw-------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 xtables.lock
-rw-------.  1 root root    3 Aug 21 13:18 syslogd.pid
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 sshd.pid
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 setrans

3) Sort output and print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 48M 1G)

To sort output and print sizes in human readable format, we will use -h option with ls command.

$ ls -lSh

output
total 1.3M
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1.1M Aug 26 15:45 GeoIP-1.5.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 177K Aug 26 15:29 index.html
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep  8 13:32 apache2
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep  8 13:31 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep  8 13:32 Documents
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep  8 13:32 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep  8 13:32 Pictures
.......

Also, we can print sizes in human readable format for specific extention.

ls -l -S -h *.mp3

ls -l -S -h ~/Downloads/*.mp4 | more

Few Basic Tips 4) List in alphabetical sorting

To list a content of a specific directory with alphabetical sorting, we will use ls command only without option, because alphabetical sorting is the default.

$ ls

output
anaconda-ks.cfg  Desktop    echo.txt   index.html  Pictures  smart.txt
apache2  Documents  f.txt  nano.txt  printf.txt  vim.txt cat.txt
Downloads  GeoIP-1.5.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm original-ks.cfg  smart.docx  vi.txt

To list a content of a specific directory with details, add the path of the directory.

$ ls -l /run

output
total 24
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 console
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 crond.pid
----------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 cron.reboot
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Sep  9 08:17 dhclient-eth0.pid
-rw-------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 ebtables.lock
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
drwxr-x---.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
..........

5) List in alphabetical reverse sorting

To list a content of a specific directory with details upon alphabetical reverse sorting, we will use -lr options with ls command.

$ ls -lr /run

output
total 24
-rw-------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 xtables.lock
-rw-rw-r--.  1 root utmp 2304 Sep  8 14:58 utmp
drwxr-xr-x.  3 root root   60 Sep  7 23:11 user
drwxr-xr-x.  7 root root  160 Aug 26 14:59 udev
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 tuned
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 tmpfiles.d
drwxr-xr-x. 16 root root  400 Aug 21 13:18 systemd
-rw-------.  1 root root    3 Aug 21 13:18 syslogd.pid
drwx--x--x.  3 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 sudo
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 sshd.pid
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 setrans
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 sepermit
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 plymouth
.......

6) List hidden content of the directory in alphabetical sorting

To list hidden contents of specific directory, we will use -a or --all options with ls command.

$ ls -a /etc

  output
  .                        default                  gss             logrotate.d               pm              rsyslog.conf    sysctl.d
  ..                       depmod.d                 host.conf       machine-id                polkit-1        rsyslog.d       systemd
  adjtime                  dhcp                     hostname        magic                     popt.d          rwtab           system-release
  aliases                  DIR_COLORS               hosts           makedumpfile.conf.sample  postfix         rwtab.d         system-release-cpe
  ........

7) List files in alphabetical sorting

To list a content of the specified directory with details, such as the file permissions, the number of links, owner’s name and group owner, file size, time of last modification and the file/directory name, we will use -l option with ls command.

$ ls -l /run

output
total 24
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 console
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Aug 21 13:18 crond.pid
----------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 cron.reboot
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root    4 Sep  8 12:41 dhclient-eth0.pid
-rw-------.  1 root root    0 Aug 21 13:18 ebtables.lock
drwxr-xr-x.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
drwxr-x---.  2 root root   40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
drwxr-xr-x.  4 root root  100 Aug 21 13:18 initramfs
drwxr-xr-x.  4 root root  100 Sep  8 03:31 lock
drwxr-xr-x.  3 root root   60 Aug 21 13:18 log
........

You can also user dir command to list files, dir -S will sort by size. Thanks for reading my article and please leave your comments.

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