How To Find A String In a Directory of Files Using Linux

All Uniq based operating systems contain a massively powerful command line interface that can let you do a lot of really cool things that you may not have realized. If you are looking for a piece of text in a huge directory of files, there is no need to go through each file and check. You can run a very simple command that will perform the search for you.

The following code will allow you to find a string inside a directory of files using any Linux/Unix based operating system using the Grep command. To make this command work correctly, make sure you are inside the directory that you wish to search.

grep -r 'mystring' *

If you wish to perform this command on a different directory that you are not currently inside, use the following command.

grep -r 'mystring' /var/myfolder

This will search for all files that contain ‘mystring’ inside the /var/myfolder directory. The -r argument will make this recursive so that it will also search all subdirectories. If you just want to search the top level directory, remove this -r command.

Related Articles

Related Questions

Function Keys Reversing Between Fn Actions And Normal

My keyboard has the usual F1 to F12 keys along the top. I use these for shortcuts in various applications. These keys also have...

Whirlpool Oven F6E6: Appliance Manager 1 Board Communication

I have a brand new Whirlpool oven W11I OM1 4MS2 H or (859991549450). I bought it alongside the microwave combi oven. I have had...

Whats the difference between the Tapo P100 and the P105?

There are a few different Tapo smart plugs. The P100 and P110 differ based on the smart power monitoring feature but where does the...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest Tools

Memory Converter

Converting values between various metric measurements is usually quite simple as there will be 1000 of the smaller unit in the next larger unit....

Bitrate Converter

Below you will find a bitrate converter. This tool will allow you to enter a bitrate value, in one of many different formats and...

Aesthetic Text Generator

There are various ways to make your social media profile seem more unique, some of which are not as easy to implement as others....

Aspect Ratio Calculator For Images

Aspect ratio is the ratio between the height and width of an image. If you want to resize an image by 100 pixels, you...

Add Text To Image

Use this free tool to add text to an image. Simply select the image file that you want to overlay text onto and you...

JavaScript Multi-line String Builder

Javascript did not always support multi-line strings. If you attempted to create a string variable using quotes, putting a line break into the source...

Latest Posts

Latest Questions