Quick Tip

Unlock Instant File Metadata with `stat`

Challenge: You need to quickly view essential details about a file, such as its size, permissions, owner, and modification timestamps, without relying on verbose `ls` commands or complex parsing.

The Solution: The `stat` command provides a concise and human-readable output of a file’s metadata.

stat filename

Why it works: `stat` is a system call and command-line utility that displays detailed file or filesystem status, including size, blocks, I/O block size, access permissions, number of hard links, user and group ownership, last access, modification, and change times.

Pro-Tip: Use `stat -c “%n %s %U %G %y”` to get a custom, pipe-friendly output of filename, size, owner, group, and modification time.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 5/6/2026