Apr 6, 2025

How to Use the du Command in Linux?

Understanding the `du` Command in Linux

The du command, short for “disk usage,” is an essential tool in Linux for estimating and summarizing the space used by files and directories. Whether you’re a system administrator looking to free up space or a developer wanting to manage your file system more effectively, mastering du can provide invaluable insights.

Basic Usage

To start with, the fundamental syntax of the du command is as follows:

du [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Here are some common options you can use with the du command:

1. Listing Sizes in Specific Units

If you need to list the sizes of a directory and its subdirectories in a specific unit (bytes, KiB, MiB, etc.), you can use:

du -b path/to/directory   # Bytes
du -k path/to/directory   # Kibibytes
du -m path/to/directory   # Mebibytes

2. Human-Readable Format

For a more user-friendly output that auto-selects the appropriate unit for each size, use the -h option:

du -h path/to/directory

3. Summarizing Sizes

If you want to check the size of a single directory in a human-readable format, you can employ the -s option:

du -sh path/to/directory

4. Listing All Files and Directories

To view the human-readable sizes of a directory along with all contained files and directories:

du -ah path/to/directory

5. Specifying Max Depth

If you only want to see sizes up to a certain level of subdirectories, you can limit the output depth using -d:

du -h --max-depth=N path/to/directory

6. Total Sizes

You can also see the total size of specific file types, like .jpg files, in your current directory along with a cumulative total:

du -ch ./*.jpg

7. Finding Large Files and Directories

To investigate what is taking up space, you can list all files and directories above a certain threshold size (for instance, greater than 1 GiB):

du -ah --threshold=1G .[^.]* *

Conclusion

The du command is a powerful utility for monitoring disk usage, helping users identify large files and directories and manage disk space efficiently. For detailed information and additional options, refer to the official documentation: GNU Coreutils.

By practicing these commands, you’ll be well-equipped to manage your disk usage effectively on a Linux system. Happy disk hunting!