ls -a, ls -l & hidden files

See everything, in detail

Lesson 3 of 20 · 8 min · Module 1: Find your way around

Some files hide by default. Others carry useful details you only see when you ask for them.

Free. No installation: you write and run the code in your browser, and it is checked automatically.

By the end, you’ll be able to…

Show hidden files
Read a long listing
Combine short options

The idea

A name that starts with a dot, like .bashrc, is a hidden file. ls -a shows all files, including hidden ones. ls -l shows a long listing: permissions, owner, size, date, and name. Options can be combined: ls -la.

ls -a
ls -l projects/scripts

01Hidden is not secret

A leading dot only hides a file from a plain ls. It is a convention for settings files such as .bashrc and .profile, which you rarely need to see.

02Read a long listing from left to right

In -rwxr-xr-x 1 learner learner 39 Oct 19 09:00 hello.sh, the first character is - for a file or d for a folder. The next nine characters are permissions, then the owner, the group, the size in bytes, the date, and the name.

ls -l projects/scripts

Output

-rw-r--r-- 1 learner learner    79 Oct 19 09:00 backup.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 learner learner    39 Oct 19 09:00 hello.sh

03Options combine

ls -l -a and ls -la mean the same thing. Most commands accept several single-letter options after one dash. ls -lh also shows sizes in a human-friendly unit.

Your turn

Show all files in your home folder, including hidden ones. Then show a long listing of projects/scripts so you can see the permissions and sizes.

What the checks look for

Reveals the hidden .bashrc file
Shows the long listing for projects/scripts

Try it in the editor →

Take this with you

Options change how a command answers: -a shows more, -l shows more detail.

Go a little further

Run ls -lh on the logs folder and compare the size column with ls -l.