du Cheatsheet
Quick reference for the du command: check directory sizes, human-readable output, depth limits, sorting by size, exclusions, and apparent size.
du reports the disk space used by files and directories. This cheatsheet covers the most common options, depth and exclusion filters, sorting recipes, and the difference between allocated and apparent size.
Basic Usage
Common ways to check directory and file sizes.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du | Show disk usage of the current directory and its subdirectories |
du file | Show disk usage of a single file |
du dir1 dir2 | Show disk usage for multiple paths |
du -h dir | Human-readable sizes (K, M, G) |
du -sh dir | Show only the total size of a directory |
du -sh * | Show the size of every item in the current directory |
sudo du -sh /var | Run with sudo to read root-owned paths |
Size Formats
Control how sizes are printed.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-h | Human-readable, powers of 1024 (K, M, G) |
-H | Human-readable, powers of 1000 (SI units) |
-k | Display sizes in 1K blocks (default on most systems) |
-m | Display sizes in 1M blocks |
-BG | Display sizes in 1G blocks |
-B SIZE | Use SIZE-byte blocks, for example -BM or -B512 |
-b | Equivalent to --apparent-size --block-size=1 |
Summary and Totals
Reduce noise or add a grand total row.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du -s dir | Show only the total for the given directory |
du -sh dir | Total in human-readable format |
du -c dir1 dir2 | Add a total line at the bottom |
du -csh /var/log /var/lib | Human-readable totals plus a combined grand total |
du -a dir | Include every file in the listing, not just directories |
Depth Control
Limit how deep du descends into the directory tree.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du -h --max-depth=1 dir | Show only the first level of subdirectories |
du -h --max-depth=2 dir | Show two levels deep |
du -h -d 1 dir | Short form of --max-depth=1 |
du -h --max-depth=0 dir | Show only the directory total (same as -s) |
Excluding Files
Skip paths or patterns from the report.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--exclude=PATTERN | Skip files and directories matching the shell pattern |
--exclude-from=FILE | Read exclude patterns from a file |
-x | Stay on the same filesystem (skip mounted ones) |
Examples:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du -sh --exclude="*.log" /var | Exclude .log files from the total |
du -sh --exclude=node_modules ~/projects | Skip node_modules directories |
du -xsh / | Total of the root filesystem only, ignoring mounts |
Sorting and Top N
Combine du with sort and head to find the largest items.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du -h dir | sort -rh | Sort entries by size, largest first |
du -h dir | sort -rh | head -10 | List the 10 largest items |
du -h --max-depth=1 / | sort -rh | head -20 | Largest top-level directories under / |
du -ah dir | sort -rh | head -10 | Largest individual files and directories |
du -sh */ | sort -rh | Sort current directory’s children by size |
Apparent vs Disk Usage
du reports allocated blocks by default. Use these flags to see actual byte counts.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--apparent-size | Show how many bytes the file contains, not how much it occupies on disk |
-b | Apparent size in bytes (shorthand for --apparent-size --block-size=1) |
Examples:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
du -sh --apparent-size /var/log | Apparent size of /var/log |
du -sb file | Exact byte count of a file |
Counting and Time
Less common but useful options.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-L | Follow all symbolic links |
-P | Never follow symbolic links (default) |
-l | Count sizes many times if hard linked |
--time | Show last modification time of the file or directory |
--time=atime | Show the access time instead of modification time |
-0 | Use a NUL character as the line separator (for piping into xargs -0) |
Related Guides
Use these references for deeper disk usage workflows.
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
du Command in Linux | Full du guide with practical examples |
How to Get the Size of a File or Directory | Focused walkthrough for sizing files and directories |
How to Check Disk Space in Linux Using df | Filesystem-level disk space reporting |
Find Large Files in Linux | Locate the biggest files across a tree |
