List All Files and Folders Recursively via Terminal

From time to time I have occasion to generate a list all WordPress files or similar. As I’m not an expert in Terminal, it took awhile to figure out the magic recipe.. now having collected some useful commands, I want to post ‘em for future reference.

List all files, first level folders, and their contents

ls * -r

List all first-level subdirectories and files

file */*

Save file list to text

file */* *>> ../files.txt
file */* -r *>> ../files-recursive.txt

Get everything

find . -type f

Save everything to file*

find . -type f > ../files-all.txt

List contents of directory

mac:wordpress username$ ls -m1 *>> file-list.txt

Outputs this:

/
	index.php
	license.txt
	readme.html
	wp-activate.php
	wp-app.php
	wp-blog-header.php
	wp-comments-post.php
	wp-config-sample.php
	wp-cron.php
	wp-links-opml.php
	wp-load.php
	wp-login.php
	wp-mail.php
	wp-pass.php
	wp-register.php
	wp-settings.php
	wp-signup.php
	wp-trackback.php
	xmlrpc.php

Then if you want more information, try this:

mac:wordpress username$ ls -la *>> file-list-full.txt

..which outputs something like this:

-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff    397 May 25  2008 index.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff  16899 Jun  8  2011 license.txt
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   9202 Apr 20 12:44 readme.html
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   4268 Oct 20  2011 wp-activate.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff  40272 Oct 28  2011 wp-app.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff    274 Nov 20  2010 wp-blog-header.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   3989 Apr 16 22:12 wp-comments-post.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   3177 Nov  1  2010 wp-config-sample.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   2684 Sep  9  2011 wp-cron.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   1997 Oct 23  2010 wp-links-opml.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   2546 Nov 15 14:47 wp-load.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff  27695 Nov 23 06:03 wp-login.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   7777 Aug  5  2011 wp-mail.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff    413 Sep 19  2011 wp-pass.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff    334 Dec  9  2010 wp-register.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   9913 Oct 18  2011 wp-settings.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff  18545 Nov 15 19:44 wp-signup.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   3702 Feb 24  2010 wp-trackback.php
-rw-r--r--@ 1 username  staff   3266 Apr 17  2011 xmlrpc.php

Getting serious

This is from Terminal fun: Options for printing folder and subfolder contents:

ls -R | grep ":$" | sed -e 's/:$//' -e 's/[^-][^\/]*\//--/g' -e 's/^/ /' -e 's/-/|/'

..which outputs this:

 |-wp-admin
 |---css
 |---images
 |-----screenshots
 |---includes
 |---js
 |---maint
 |---network
 |---user
 |-wp-content
 |---plugins
 |-----akismet
 |---themes
 |-----twentyeleven
 |-------colors
 |-------images
 |---------headers
 |-------inc
 |---------images
 |-------js
 |-------languages
 |-----twentyten
 |-------images
 |---------headers
 |-------languages
 |-wp-includes
 |---Text
 |-----Diff
 |-------Engine
 |-------Renderer
 |---css
 |---images
 |-----crystal
 |-----smilies
 |-----wlw
 |---js
 |-----crop
 |-----imgareaselect
 |-----jcrop
 |-----jquery
 |-------ui
 |-----plupload
 |-----scriptaculous
 |-----swfupload
 |-------plugins
 |-----thickbox
 |-----tinymce
 |-------langs
 |-------plugins
 |---------directionality
 |---------fullscreen
 |---------inlinepopups
 |-----------skins
 |-------------clearlooks2
 |---------------img
 |---------media
 |-----------css
 |-----------js
 |---------paste
 |-----------js
 |---------spellchecker
 |-----------classes
 |-------------utils
 |-----------css
 |-----------img
 |-----------includes
 |---------tabfocus
 |---------wordpress
 |-----------css
 |-----------img
 |---------wpdialogs
 |-----------js
 |---------wpeditimage
 |-----------css
 |-----------img
 |-----------js
 |---------wpfullscreen
 |-----------css
 |---------wpgallery
 |-----------img
 |---------wplink
 |-------themes
 |---------advanced
 |-----------img
 |-----------js
 |-----------skins
 |-------------default
 |---------------img
 |-------------highcontrast
 |-------------o2k7
 |---------------img
 |-------------wp_theme
 |---------------img
 |-------utils
 |---pomo
 |---theme-compat

That’s all for this post, but there’s more on the way :)

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Fullstack Developer. Book Author. Teacher. Human Being.