ls lists files and directories. It's the command you'll use most often.

Basic Usage

ls

Shows files and folders in the current directory.

Common Options

Long Format (-l)

ls -l

Output:

-rw-r--r--  1 john  staff  1024 Dec 15 10:30 file.txt
drwxr-xr-x  3 john  staff    96 Dec 14 09:15 folder

What each column means:

The first character: - for file, d for directory.

Show Hidden Files (-a)

ls -a

Shows everything, including files starting with .:

.  ..  .zshrc  .gitignore  Documents  file.txt

Human-Readable Sizes (-h)

ls -lh

Shows sizes as K, M, G instead of bytes:

-rw-r--r--  1 john  staff   1.2M Dec 15 10:30 video.mp4
-rw-r--r--  1 john  staff   256K Dec 14 09:15 image.png

Sort Options

ls -lt    # Sort by time (newest first)
ls -ltr   # Sort by time (oldest first)
ls -lS    # Sort by size (largest first)

List Specific Directory

ls ~/Downloads
ls /usr/local/bin

List Multiple Locations

ls ~/Documents ~/Downloads

One File Per Line

ls -1

Useful for scripting.

Show Only Directories

ls -d */

Colorized Output

ls -G

Colors help distinguish files from folders. Make it permanent:

echo 'alias ls="ls -G"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Common Combinations

# The everyday command
ls -la

# With human-readable sizes
ls -lah

# Newest files at bottom
ls -latr

# Largest files first
ls -lahS

My Favorite Alias

Add to ~/.zshrc:

alias ll="ls -lah"

Now just type ll for a full listing.

What ls Can't Do

For more complex file finding:

• Find files by name: use find
• Search file contents: use grep
• Recursive listing: use find or ls -R

Recursive Listing

ls -R

Lists all subdirectories too. Can be overwhelming in large folders.

Quick Reference

Keep Learning

ls is the first command everyone learns. The free course builds from here to more powerful commands.

Check it out at Mac Terminal for Humans.