How to list only directories in Linux ?

In this quick tip, we will check how to list only directories on some path say /root.

By default, ls command displays all files and directories.

Suppose we want to see only directories then we can use this trick.

1. Default Long List “ls -l” command.

[root@nglinux ~]# ls -l | more
total 886212
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root      4096 Jan 15 07:56 6511aba475c4212fd99e06f7a8baec3a.png
-rw-------. 1 root root      3366 Nov 14 08:23 anaconda-ks.cfg
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root         0 Jan 16 06:24 bigfile2.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root         2 Jan 16 06:24 bigfile.txt
-r--r--r--. 1 root root        14 Mar 28  2017 Centos_BuildTag
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Dec 14 22:36 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 15 03:34 dir1
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Documents
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Downloads
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root       131 Jan  3 01:31 edit_host.sh
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root         6 Jan 20 02:39 file
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root      4096 Jan 15 08:04 file1

2. Using grep: List only directories

[root@nglinux ~]# ls -l | grep ^d
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Dec 14 22:36 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 15 03:34 dir1
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Documents
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 22 03:37 hello
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Music
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Public
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Templates
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root      4096 Dec 29 03:01 test
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 20 02:54 testdir
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root  25985024 Jan  4 03:07 testing
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Videos
[root@nglinux ~]#

3. Using awk: List only directories

[root@nglinux ~]# ls -l | awk '/^d/{print}'
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Dec 14 22:36 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 15 03:34 dir1
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Documents
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 22 03:37 hello
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Music
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Public
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Templates
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root      4096 Dec 29 03:01 test
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Jan 20 02:54 testdir
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root  25985024 Jan  4 03:07 testing
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root      4096 Nov 14 08:57 Videos
[root@nglinux ~]# 

There are many ways to achieve a small task in Linux bash shell.

You may use any of the ways convenient to use.