Windows Linux Text Processing Expanded guide Search

Windows `find` equivalent in Linux

Searches for files matching given criteria anywhere in the filesystem.

Reference maintained by Win-Linux.com · How mappings are evaluated

Windows find

→

Linux equivalents

Debian/Ubuntu same command

find

Fedora same command

find

Arch same command

find

Overview

What this command does

On Windows, "find" is used to search for files and directories. On Linux, the closest practical mapping shown here is "find". Searches for files matching given criteria anywhere in the filesystem. This reference is grouped under Text Processing → Search.

Migration tip: Linux's <code>find</code> is <strong>much more powerful</strong> than Windows' — you can search by name, size, date, permissions, and even execute commands on results.

Windows → Linux context

What changes when you use this on Linux?

Same name, different environment

The basic command name find is familiar on both platforms, but Linux path rules, quoting, permissions and available options can still change the result.

Portable across the compared distros

The Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch rows use the same command in this mapping. Package availability or defaults can still vary, so check the installed tool version when an option behaves differently.

For the broader concept behind this mapping, read Linux command-line basics.

Practical tasks

Common use cases

Search for files and directories

Searches for files matching given criteria anywhere in the filesystem.

find . -name

Search by filename in current dir

find / -name

Search entire filesystem

find . -type f

Find files only (not directories)

Ready to run

Copyable Linux commands

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

find . -name "*.txt"

find /home -name "report.pdf"

find . -name "*.log" -mtime -1

find . -size +100M

find . -name "*.tmp" -delete

Walkthrough

Examples with explanations

# Windows: dir /s /b *.txt
find . -name "*.txt"           # find all .txt files here
find /home -name "report.pdf"  # search in /home
find . -name "*.log" -mtime -1 # logs from last 24hrs
find . -size +100M             # files over 100MB

# Find and delete (use with care!):
find . -name "*.tmp" -delete   # delete all .tmp files

Reference

Common options and variations

Command or option	Use
`find . -name`	Search by filename in current dir
`find / -name`	Search entire filesystem
`find . -type f`	Find files only (not directories)
`find . -type d`	Find directories only
`find . -mtime -7`	Files modified in last 7 days
`find . -size +10M`	Files larger than 10MB

Distro differences

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch all use "find" for this mapping. The command syntax shown here is portable across the three rows, although installed versions and system defaults can still vary.

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

Keep learning

What this command does

What changes when you use this on Linux?

Same name, different environment

Portable across the compared distros

Common use cases

Search for files and directories

find . -name

find / -name

find . -type f

Copyable Linux commands

Examples with explanations

Common options and variations

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

Related Text Processing commands