Windows Linux Text Processing Search

Windows `dir /s /b (recursive list)` equivalent in Linux

Recursively lists every file in a directory tree, one per line — no directories, just files.

Windows dir /s /b (recursive list)

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Linux equivalents

Debian/Ubuntu same command

find . -type f

Fedora same command

find . -type f

Arch same command

find . -type f

Overview

What this command does

Recursively lists every file in a directory tree, one per line — no directories, just files.

Migration tip: Combine with wc -l to count files, xargs to act on them, or grep to filter by name. -type d lists only directories instead.

Practical tasks

Common use cases

List all files recursively

Recursively lists every file in a directory tree, one per line — no directories, just files.

find . -type f

All files recursively

find . -type d

All directories recursively

find . -name '*.log'

All .log files

Ready to run

Copyable Linux commands

Review paths, device names, package names and permissions before running any command.

find . -type f

find . -type f | wc -l

find . -name '*.py'

find . -name '*.tmp' -delete

Walkthrough

Examples with explanations

# Windows: dir /s /b
find . -type f              # all files
find . -type f | wc -l     # count files
find . -name '*.py'         # python files only

# Find and delete temp files:
find . -name '*.tmp' -delete

Reference

Common options and variations

Command or option	Use
`find . -type f`	All files recursively
`find . -type d`	All directories recursively
`find . -name '*.log'`	All .log files
`find . -size +10M -type f`	Files larger than 10MB
`find . -empty`	Find empty files and directories
`find . -name '*.tmp' -delete`	Delete all .tmp files

Distro differences

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

This command is the same on Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux when the relevant tool is installed.

Distribution	Package manager / base	Equivalent command	Difference to notice
Debian/Ubuntu	same command	`find . -type f`	Same command on this distribution.
Fedora	same command	`find . -type f`	Same command on this distribution.
Arch	same command	`find . -type f`	Same command on this distribution.

Keep learning

What this command does

Common use cases

List all files recursively

find . -type f

find . -type d

find . -name '*.log'

Copyable Linux commands

Examples with explanations

Common options and variations

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

Related Text Processing commands