How to Find Large Files on Linux?

Quick Answer: Use find / -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null to locate all files larger than 100MB on your Linux system, or du -sh /* | sort -hr to see directory sizes sorted by largest first.

Basic Command Examples

# Find files larger than 100MB system-wide
find / -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null

# Find large files in specific directory
find /home -type f -size +500M -exec ls -lh {} \;

# Show directory sizes sorted by largest
du -sh /* 2>/dev/null | sort -hr

Step-by-Step Guide to Find Large Files

1. Open your terminal and decide on the size threshold (e.g., 100MB, 1GB)
2. Choose your search location – use / for entire system or specific path like /home
3. Run the find command with your size parameter: find /path -type f -size +100M
4. Add formatting options like -ls for detailed output or -exec ls -lh {} \; for human-readable sizes
5. Redirect errors by adding 2>/dev/null to hide permission denied messages
6. Sort results by size using | sort -k5 -hr to see largest files first
7. Save results to file with > large_files.txt for later analysis
8. Review and clean up identified large files that are no longer needed

Command Reference Table

Real-World Use Cases

Server Cleanup Scenario

# Find log files larger than 100MB older than 7 days
find /var/log -name "*.log" -size +100M -mtime +7 -ls

# Find backup files consuming space
find /backup -name "*.tar.gz" -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Home Directory Management

# Find large media files in home directory
find ~/ -type f \( -name "*.mp4" -o -name "*.mkv" -o -name "*.iso" \) -size +500M

# Identify large downloads
find ~/Downloads -type f -size +100M -printf "%s %p\n" | sort -nr

Development Environment

# Find large files in project directories
find ~/projects -name "node_modules" -type d -exec du -sh {} \;

# Locate large Docker images or containers data
find /var/lib/docker -type f -size +500M 2>/dev/null

Advanced Filtering Options

Size Specifications

• +100M – Larger than 100 megabytes
• -100M – Smaller than 100 megabytes
• 100M – Exactly 100 megabytes
• +1G – Larger than 1 gigabyte
• +1024k – Larger than 1024 kilobytes

Time-Based Filtering

# Files modified in last 7 days
find / -type f -size +100M -mtime -7

# Files not accessed in 30 days
find / -type f -size +100M -atime +30

# Files created in last 24 hours
find / -type f -size +100M -ctime -1

Alternative Tools and Methods

Using du Command

# Top 10 largest directories
du -sh /* 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -10

# Largest files in current directory tree
du -a . | sort -nr | head -20

Using ls with Sorting

# Largest files in directory (recursive)
find /path -type f -exec ls -la {} \; | sort -k5 -nr | head -10

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Permission Denied Errors

Problem: Getting “Permission denied” messages
Solution: Add 2>/dev/null to suppress errors or run with sudo

sudo find / -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null

Command Taking Too Long

Problem: Search is very slow on large filesystems
Solution: Limit search scope or use background processing

# Search specific directories only
find /home /var -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null

# Run in background
nohup find / -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null > large_files.txt &

Out of Memory Errors

Problem: System runs out of memory during search
Solution: Use pagination or process results incrementally

# Process results in smaller chunks
find / -type f -size +100M -print0 | xargs -0 -n 10 ls -lh

Performance Optimization Tips

1. Limit search scope – Don’t search entire filesystem unless necessary
2. Use specific file types – Add -name "*.log" to target specific extensions
3. Exclude mount points – Use -mount to avoid searching mounted filesystems
4. Run during low usage – Schedule large searches during off-peak hours
5. Combine with other tools – Use ionice to reduce I/O priority

Related Commands and Tools

• ncdu – Interactive disk usage analyzer with ncurses interface
• baobab – Graphical disk usage analyzer for GNOME
• qdirstat – Qt-based directory statistics tool
• tree – Display directory structure with sizes
• lsof – List open files (useful for finding files in use)

Quick Reference Commands

# Most common use cases
find / -type f -size +100M -ls 2>/dev/null                    # System-wide large files
find /home -type f -size +500M -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null # Home directory large files  
du -sh /var/* | sort -hr                                      # Largest directories in /var
find /tmp -type f -size +50M -mtime +1 -delete               # Clean old temp files

This comprehensive find large files on linux approach helps you efficiently identify and manage large files consuming disk space on your Linux system, whether for routine maintenance, troubleshooting storage issues, or optimizing system performance.