ls Options

Plain ls gives you a quick list, but it hides some things and leaves out useful details. Commands often accept options: extra flags starting with a - that change how they behave.

Show hidden files: ls -a

Files whose names start with a dot (.) are hidden. Plain ls does not show them. The -a option (all) reveals them:

ls -a

.  ..  .secret.txt  crew.txt  mission.txt

You will also see . (the current directory) and .. (the parent directory). More on those in the next lesson.

Show details: ls -l

The -l option (long format) prints one item per line with extra information:

ls -l

-rw-r--r-- 1 student student   24 May 16 10:00 crew.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 student student 4096 May 16 10:00 reports

The very first character tells you the type:

• - means a file
• d means a directory

So now you can finally tell files and folders apart. (The other columns, permissions, size, date, are covered in later chapters.)

Combine options: ls -la

Options can be combined into one. ls -la means "long format and show all":

ls -la

You can write it as ls -la, ls -al, or ls -l -a: all the same.

Mission: Uncover Hidden Files

Station security has flagged a hidden file somewhere in your home directory, and they also want a detailed look inside the reports folder. Regular scans missed the hidden file because hidden files do not show up in a plain listing.

1. List all items here (including hidden ones) in long format, in a single command.
2. Then inspect just the reports folder in long format.

Expected result

You see every item (including the hidden file starting with .) with details showing which entries are files and which are directories, plus a detailed listing of what lives inside reports.