Linux: Find Files By Date

How do I find file by date under UNIX and Linux?

Linux and UNIX like operating systems do not store file creation time. However, you can use file access and modification time and date to find out file by date.

ls Command Example

The syntax is as follows:

ls -l  | grep 'yyyy-mm-dd'
ls -l | grep --color=auto '2006-01-05'

Where,

• 2006 - Year
• 01 - Month
• 05 - Day

You can sort it as follows:

ls -lu | grep --color=auto '2006-01-05'

find Command Example

If you need a specific date range many days ago, than consider using the find command. In this example find files modified between Jan/1/2007 and Jan/1/2008, in /data/images directory:

touch --date "2007-01-01" /tmp/start
touch --date "2008-01-01" /tmp/end
find /data/images -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end

You can save list to a text file called output.txt as follows:

find /data/images -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end > output.txt

List ALL *.c File Accessed 30 Days Ago

Type the following command

find /home/you -iname "*.c" -atime -30 -type -f