{"id":397331,"date":"2022-01-21T21:18:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line-cloudsavvy-it\/"},"modified":"2022-01-21T21:18:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T18:18:11","slug":"how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line-cloudsavvy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line-cloudsavvy-it\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to Check Directory Size From the Linux Command Line \u2013 CloudSavvy IT"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3071c2a8a66\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3071c2a8a66\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line-cloudsavvy-it\/#Using_The_du_Command\" >Using The du Command<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line-cloudsavvy-it\/#Finding_The_Largest_Directories_On_Your_Server\" >Finding The Largest Directories On Your Server<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#How to Check Directory Size From the Linux Command Line \u2013 CloudSavvy IT&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content-area\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage alignnone size-full wp-image-4038\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2017\/07\/add8ac45.png?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2017\/07\/add8ac45.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2017\/07\/add8ac45.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Bash Shell\" width=\"1400\" height=\"600\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>While the Linux command <code>ls<\/code>\u00a0can display the sizes of files, it doesn\u2019t work properly with directories, which will always be displayed as 4096 bytes. You\u2019ll need to use the <code>du<\/code>\u00a0command to recurse into subdirectories and print out a total.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_The_du_Command\"><\/span>Using The du Command<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The best replacement for <code>ls<\/code>\u00a0is to use <code>du<\/code>\u00a0with a couple flags:<\/p>\n<pre>du -had 1<\/pre>\n<p>The <code>-h<\/code>\u00a0flag stands for \u201chuman readable,\u201d and will format the sizes in KB, MB, and GB for you rather than making you fetch a calculator.<\/p>\n<p>The <code>-a<\/code>\u00a0flag is \u201call,\u201d and will include individual files as well as directories, making it useful for mimicking the way <code>ls<\/code>\u00a0works.<\/p>\n<p>The <code>-d 1<\/code>\u00a0flag is a limit on how deep <code>du<\/code>\u00a0will print the results. By default, it\u2019s configured to print every single subdirectory out, which can be a pain if you have lots of nested files. The <code>-d<\/code>\u00a0flag will add them all up and print out the total for each visible directory from where you execute the command.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15210\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2022\/01\/60dd3f31.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"231\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d prefer it list every directory, you can run the command with the <code>--<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arent-size<\/code>\u00a0flag, which will display the total size of each subdirectory as if you had done right click &gt; Properties in your file explorer.<\/p>\n<p>This is all jumbled though, so if you\u2019d like to view the biggest directories in the current folder, you can pipe the output to the <code>sort<\/code>\u00a0command. Make sure to also use the <code>-h<\/code>\u00a0flag, or else <code>sort<\/code>\u00a0will treat <code>128MB<\/code>\u00a0as a bigger number than <code>1GB<\/code>.<\/p>\n<pre>du -had 1 | sort -rh<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15212\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2022\/01\/899aa038.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"557\" height=\"179\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>By default, <code>du<\/code> uses the current directory, but you can also target specific directories. Just pass the location in as the last argument.<\/p>\n<pre>du -had 1 .\/world\/<\/pre>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Finding_The_Largest_Directories_On_Your_Server\"><\/span>Finding The Largest Directories On Your Server<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A common task on Linux is debugging large amounts of disk usage. If you\u2019d like to view total usage for each disk, you can use <code>df -h<\/code>, or install a monitoring tool like <code>glances<\/code>\u00a0which will show it more cleanly:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15213\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2022\/01\/1fa016aa.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"598\" height=\"272\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>However, this doesn\u2019t drill down into directories and won\u2019t find the source of the problem. For that, you can use <code>du<\/code>, but remove the <code>-d 1<\/code>\u00a0flag so it will search every directory. Target it at root, sort it, and filter for the top 25 directories so your screen isn\u2019t overflown.<\/p>\n<pre>du -ah \/ | sort -rh | head -n 25<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15214\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2022\/01\/7944d641.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"705\" height=\"285\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This may print out a few errors for files that it can\u2019t access; make sure you run it with <code>sudo<\/code>.\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/15209\/how-to-check-directory-size-from-the-linux-command-line\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#How to Check Directory Size From the Linux Command Line \u2013 CloudSavvy IT&#8221; While the Linux command ls\u00a0can display the sizes of files, it doesn\u2019t work properly with directories, which will always be displayed as 4096 bytes. You\u2019ll need to use the du\u00a0command to recurse into subdirectories and print out a total. Using The du&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cloudsavvyit.com\/p\/uploads\/2017\/07\/add8ac45.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}