11 ways to list and sort files on Linux
There are many ways to list files and display information about them on Linux systems. This post reviews a number of commands that provide details on files and provides options for customizing your file listings to meet your needs.
Most of the commands list files within individual directories while others reach as deeply into a file system as you care to look.
The primary command for listing files is, of course, ls. This command, however, has an extensive number of options for finding and listing just the files you want to see. Plus, there's always find for helping with very specific file searches.
Listing files by name
The easiest way to list files by name is simply to list them using the ls command. Listing files by name (alphanumeric order) is, after all, the default. You can choose the ls (no details) or ls -l (lots of details) to determine your view.