- 1How to Create a File in Linux
- 2How to Rename a File in Linux
- 3How to Copy a File in Linux
- 4How to Move a File in Linux
- 5How to Delete a File in Linux
- 6How to Create a Directory in Linux
- 7How to Delete a Directory in Linux
- 8How to Copy Directories Recursively in Linux
- 9Delete Directories Recursively in Linux
- 10How to View Hidden Files in Linux
- 11How to Create a Hidden File in Linux
- 12How to Create a Hidden Directory in Linux
- 13How to Find Files in Linux Using find Command
- 14Find Files in Linux Using locate Command
- 15How to View File Contents Using cat in Linux
- 16How to View File Contents Using less in Linux
- 17View File Contents Using the more Command in Linux
- 18Compare Files Using diff Command in Linux
- 19Compare Files in Linux Using cmp Command
- 20Check File Type in Linux with file Command
- 21Create Symbolic Links with ln -s in Linux
- 22How to Archive Files Using tar Command in Linux
- 23Compress Files with gzip in Linux – Beginner Tutorial
- 24How to Compress Files Using bzip2 in Linux
- 25Compress Files in Linux Using zip Command
- 26Extract Compressed Files using tar in Linux
- 27Extract ZIP Files on Linux with unzip
- 28How to Extract .gz Files using gunzip in Linux
How to Find Files Using locate Command
How to Find Files Using locate
Command
Hey there! 👋 If you've ever found yourself lost in your Linux system, trying to remember where a file is hiding, then locate
is about to become your new best friend. In this tutorial, we're going to learn how to use the locate
command to find files and directories quickly and efficiently.
What is locate
?
The locate
command helps you find the full path of files or directories by searching a prebuilt database. Unlike find
, which scans the filesystem in real time, locate
is much faster because it uses an indexed list of all files on your system.
Step 1: Install locate
(if not already installed)
First things first—let's install mlocate
, which provides the locate
command.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mlocate
For Red Hat-based systems:
sudo yum install mlocate
Step 2: Update the locate database
Before you can use locate
, you need to update its database. This step collects all the paths on your system so locate
knows where to look.
sudo updatedb
This might take a few seconds depending on your system size.
Step 3: Find a file using locate
Now, let’s say you want to find a file named notes.txt
. You simply run:
locate notes.txt
You’ll see something like:
/home/alex/Documents/notes.txt
/home/alex/Downloads/old/notes.txt
Wow, that was fast! 🚀 Unlike find
, you don’t have to specify a directory—it searches the entire system.
Step 4: Use wildcards with locate
Want to find all files that end with .log
? Use a wildcard:
locate "*.log"
Note: You may need to wrap the pattern in quotes to prevent the shell from expanding it too early.
Step 5: Filter results with grep
If your search returns too many results, pipe it through grep
to filter them:
locate notes | grep "2024"
This will show only results that contain "2024" in their paths.
Pro Tip: Run updatedb
regularly
Because locate
depends on a database, new files won't show up until the database is updated. You can automate this by setting up a cron
job, or just run sudo updatedb
manually every now and then.
That’s it!
Now you know how to use the locate
command to find files in seconds. Try it out and see how much time it saves you!
See you in the next tutorial. Happy Linux-ing! 🐧
Next Topic ⮕How to View File Contents Using cat in Linux
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