du

Find out how much space a folder takes

What it does

du (disk usage) adds up the size of files and folders. With no flags it prints every folder inside, so you almost always type -sh: -s for one line with the total, -h for readable units.

du -sh * shows the size of each item in the current folder, and with | sort -h sorts them from smallest to largest, so the heaviest end up at the bottom. * skips hidden files. System folders need sudo, or some files are not counted.

Syntax

du -sh <folder>
du -sh * | sort -h

Examples

• Find out how big the folder /var/log is

  du -sh /var/log

  same as: du -hs /var/log, du -s -h /var/log, du -h -s /var/log

  • du — disk usage — how much it takes
  • -s — a single line with the total
  • -h — in readable units
  • /var/log — the folder

• Show the size of every file and folder here, smallest to largest

  du -sh * | sort -h

  same as: du -hs * | sort -h

  • du -sh * — a total for each item in the folder
  • | sort -h — sort by size, K, M and G included

Related commands

• df — See how much disk space there is
• sort — Sort lines and drop duplicates
• tar — Pack files into an archive or unpack one

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