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Use find START -type d -name 'FOLDER_NAME' to search for a folder by name. For example, find ~ -type d -name 'Projects' checks your home directory and prints matching directories. The starting path sets how much of the filesystem is searched; use find . to search the current directory and everything below it.
Search for a folder with find
find traverses a directory tree as you run it, so it can discover folders that were recently created or moved. Its general form is:
find START -type d -name 'FOLDER_NAME'
STARTis the directory where the search begins.-type dlimits results to directories rather than files or other entries.-namematches the folder name, including capitalization.
GNU Findutils documents find as a tool for traversing directory trees: GNU Findutils manual.
Choose where to search
The starting path controls the search scope. A narrower starting point usually avoids searching unrelated parts of the filesystem.
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find . -type d -name 'Projects'searches the current directory and its descendants. In GNUfind, omitting the starting point defaults to the current directory.find ~ -type d -name 'Projects'searches your home directory and its descendants.find / -type d -name 'Projects'starts at the filesystem root and attempts to search broadly.
A broad search may print permission-denied messages when your account cannot inspect some paths. You can suppress those messages with 2>/dev/null, as in find / -type d -name 'Projects' 2>/dev/null, but this only hides the errors: inaccessible locations are still not searched successfully, so results may be incomplete.
Match capitalization or part of a name
Ignore capitalization
Use -iname instead of -name for a case-insensitive match:
find ~ -type d -iname 'projects'
Search for a name fragment
Use a quoted wildcard pattern to find directory names containing a known fragment:
find ~ -type d -name '*project*'
The quotes matter: they make the shell pass the wildcard pattern to find rather than trying to expand it against entries in your current directory first. Quote names that contain spaces or shell metacharacters as well. GNU’s manual explains how find evaluates expressions: GNU Findutils manual.
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Use locate for a quick lookup
locate searches a filename database instead of walking the live directory tree. That can make a lookup very fast, but results depend on when the database was last updated; a recently created or moved folder may not appear yet.
For example, search for a folder name with:
locate 'Projects'
The GNU documentation describes locate as scanning databases of filenames: GNU Findutils manual. Availability and package names vary by Linux distribution. If the command is unavailable, use find for a live search instead.
| Method | What it searches | Freshness | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
find |
The directory tree below the starting path | Checks the tree when the command runs | When the folder may have been created or moved recently, or when you need to control the search scope |
locate |
A filename database | Depends on the database’s most recent update | When you want a quick lookup and database results are sufficiently current |
For details about these utilities, see the GNU Findutils documentation and the Linux find manual. Options and behavior can vary with the implementation and version installed; check man find on your system for local details.
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