Ubuntu

hidden directories

Asked by Bob Murrell

Is there a command in Terminal to reveal hidden files and directories?

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Benjamin Rubin
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Markus Thielmann (thielmann) said : 		#1

Thanks for your question.

Yes, there is: "ls -a"

Revision history for this message
Best Benjamin Rubin (bnrubin) said : 		#2

You can type 'ls -a' in the terminal to see any hidden files that might be lurking in your folders. You might want to check out ls's manpage too, for other switches.

Revision history for this message
Bob Murrell (bmurrell) said : 		#3

Thank-you Ben and Markus. Ubuntu is great but the little things can bite you for a while.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#4

Little free tip that may help you.
In your home directory there is a file called .bashrc
If you go to the end, you will see a section called # some more ls aliases
Uncomment (that is delete the beginning #) the ll and la lines.
Now, whenever you type ll or la you will execute an ls -l or an ls -a command.
I also added a dir alias:

alias dir='ls -lh'

handy when you want to know the size of files.

Good for the lazies like me ;-)

Revision history for this message
Thomas Templin (coastgnu) said : 		#5

Hello Bob
> New question #6705 on Ubuntu:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/6705
>
> Is there a command in Terminal to reveal hidden files and directories?

Of course there is...

Use:
 ls -a
and you will see all hidden files.

Try
 ls --help
or
 man ls

Another convenient way for reading manual pages is using the Gnome or KDE
help-system, yelp (Gnome) khelpcenter (KDE).

E.G. using Yelp the Gnome help-system (Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn)

- Select 'Advanced Topics' (on the left side, the last entry at the bottom)
- Follow the link 'Terminal Commands References (nam pages)'
- Go to the first link 'applications' (It should be applications, it's
  'Anwendungen' in German)
- Scrol down until you find 'ls' and follow this link
  You will see the manpage which is the same as for 'man ls' in a Terminal

Hope this will help,
Thomas

Revision history for this message
Bob Murrell (bmurrell) said : 		#6

Thanks to all, I'm saving this thread in gmail for continuing reference.

On 5/16/07, coastgnu <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Your question #6705 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/6705
>
> coastgnu posted a new comment:
> Hello Bob
> > New question #6705 on Ubuntu:
> > https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/6705
> >
> > Is there a command in Terminal to reveal hidden files and directories?
>
> Of course there is...
>
> Use:
> ls -a
> and you will see all hidden files.
>
> Try
> ls --help
> or
> man ls
>
>
> Another convenient way for reading manual pages is using the Gnome or KDE
> help-system, yelp (Gnome) khelpcenter (KDE).
>
> E.G. using Yelp the Gnome help-system (Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn)
>
> - Select 'Advanced Topics' (on the left side, the last entry at the
> bottom)
> - Follow the link 'Terminal Commands References (nam pages)'
> - Go to the first link 'applications' (It should be applications, it's
> 'Anwendungen' in German)
> - Scrol down until you find 'ls' and follow this link
> You will see the manpage which is the same as for 'man ls' in a Terminal
>
> Hope this will help,
> Thomas
>