LS(1)

NAME
ls - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

-a, --all
    do not ignore entries starting with .

-A, --almost-all
    do not list implied . and ..

--author
    with -l, print the author of each file

-b, --escape
    print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters

--block-size=SIZE
    with -l, scale sizes by SIZE when printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'; see SIZE format below

-B, --ignore-backups
    do not list implied entries ending with ~

-c  with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last change of file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name; otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first

-C  list entries by columns

--color[=WHEN]
    color the output WHEN; more info below

-d, --directory
    list directories themselves, not their contents

-D, --dired
    generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode

-f  same as -a -U

-F, --classify[=WHEN]
    append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries WHEN

--file-type
    like -F, except do not append '*'

--format=WORD
    across,horizontal (-x), commas (-m), long (-l), single-column (-1), verbose (-l), vertical (-C)

--full-time
    like -l --time-style=full-iso

-g  like -l, but do not list owner

--group-directories-first
    group directories before files

-G, --no-group
    in a long listing, don't print group names

-h, --human-readable
    with -l and -s, print sizes like 1K 234M 2G etc.

--si
    likewise, but use powers of 1000 not 1024

-H, --dereference-command-line
    follow symbolic links listed on the command line

--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir
    follow each command line symbolic link that points to a directory

--hide=PATTERN
    do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN (overridden by -a or -A)

--hyperlink[=WHEN]
    hyperlink file names WHEN

--indicator-style=WORD
    append indicator with style WORD to entry names: none (default), slash (-p), file-type (--file-type), classify (-F)

-i, --inode
    print the index number of each file

-I, --ignore=PATTERN
    do not list implied entries matching shell PATTERN

-k, --kibibytes
    default to 1024-byte blocks for file system usage; used only with -s and per directory totals

-l  use a long listing format

-L, --dereference
    when showing file information for a symbolic link, show information for the file the link references rather than for the link itself

-m  fill width with a comma separated list of entries

-n, --numeric-uid-gid
    like -l, but list numeric user and group IDs

-N, --literal
    print entry names without quoting

-o  like -l, but do not list group information

-p, --indicator-style=slash
    append / indicator to directories

-q, --hide-control-chars
    print ? instead of nongraphic characters

--show-control-chars
    show nongraphic characters as-is; the default, unless program is 'ls' and output is a terminal

-Q, --quote-name
    enclose entry names in double quotes

--quoting-style=WORD
    use quoting style WORD for entry names: literal, locale, shell, shell-always, shell-escape, shell-escape-always, c, escape (overrides QUOTING_STYLE environment variable)

-r, --reverse
    reverse order while sorting

-R, --recursive
    list subdirectories recursively

-s, --size
    print the allocated size of each file, in blocks

-S  sort by file size, largest first

--sort=WORD
    change default 'name' sort to WORD: none (-U), size (-S), time (-t), version (-v), extension (-X), name, width

--time=WORD
    select which timestamp used to display or sort; access time (-u): atime, access, use; metadata change time (-c): ctime, status; modified time (default): mtime, modification; birth time: birth, creation; with -l, WORD determines which time to show; with --sort=time, sort by WORD (newest first)

--time-style=TIME_STYLE
    time/date format with -l; see TIME_STYLE below

-t  sort by time, newest first; see --time

-T, --tabsize=COLS
    assume tab stops at each COLS instead of 8

-u  with -lt: sort by, and show, access time; with -l: show access time and sort by name; otherwise: sort by access time, newest first

-U  do not sort directory entries

-v  natural sort of (version) numbers within text

-w, --width=COLS
    set output width to COLS. 0 means no limit

-x  list entries by lines instead of by columns

-X  sort alphabetically by entry extension

-Z, --context
    print any security context of each file

--zero
    end each output line with NUL, not newline

-1  list one file per line

--help
    display this help and exit

--version
    output version information and exit

The SIZE argument is an integer and optional unit (example: 10K is 10*1024). Units are K,M,G,T,P,E,Z,Y,R,Q (powers of 1024) or KB,MB,... (powers of 1000). Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

The TIME_STYLE argument can be full-iso, long-iso, iso, locale, or +FORMAT. FORMAT is interpreted like in date(1). If FORMAT is FORMAT1<newline>FORMAT2, then FORMAT1 applies to non-recent files and FORMAT2 to recent files. TIME_STYLE prefixed with 'posix-' takes effect only outside the POSIX locale. Also the TIME_STYLE environment variable sets the default style to use.

The WHEN argument defaults to 'always' and can also be 'auto' or 'never'.

Using color to distinguish file types is disabled both by default and with --color=never. With --color=auto, ls emits color codes only when standard output is connected to a terminal. The LS_COLORS environment variable can change the settings. Use the dircolors(1) command to set it.

  Exit status:

0   if OK,

1   if minor problems (e.g., cannot access subdirectory),

2   if serious trouble (e.g., cannot access command-line argument).

AUTHOR
Written by Richard M. Stallman and David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org

Report Gentoo bugs to: https://bugs.gentoo.org/
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

SEE ALSO
dircolors(1)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ls>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ls invocation'

Packaged by Gentoo (9.10 (p0))
Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.