Find large files with find on Linux

What you will achieve

Locate large files from the shell on Ubuntu and Debian without needing ncdu — prune paths, sort by size, and remove or archive safely.

1) Find files over 100 MB

sudo find /var -xdev -type f -size +100M -print 2>/dev/null

-xdev stays on one filesystem — avoids crossing into NFS or proc. Adjust threshold: +1G for gigabyte hunters, +500M for finer nets.

2) Show size with find and du

sudo find /var/log -type f -size +50M -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -h

-exec du -h {} + batches efficiently. Sorted output puts the worst offenders at the bottom.

3) Top ten largest under a path

sudo find /home -xdev -type f -printf '%s %p\n' 2>/dev/null | \
  sort -n | tail -10 | awk '{printf "%.1f MB %s\n", $1/1024/1024, $2}'

GNU find on Debian/Ubuntu supports -printf for byte-accurate sorting without spawning du per file.

4) Exclude noise paths

sudo find / -xdev -type f -size +500M \
  ! -path '/proc/*' ! -path '/sys/*' ! -path '/dev/*' \
  -print 2>/dev/null

Prune pseudo-filesystems and snapshot directories you must not touch.

5) Find old large logs

sudo find /var/log -type f -name '*.log' -size +100M -mtime +30 -ls

-mtime +30 means not modified in 30 days. Truncate or rotate via logrotate rather than blind deletion on active logs.

6) Safe deletion workflow

# Step 1: list only
sudo find /tmp -type f -size +1G -print
# Step 2: after review
sudo find /tmp -type f -size +1G -print -delete

Prefer truncate -s 0 huge.log on active logs over deletion. Move to archive before remove on anything uncertain.

7) When find is slow

sudo du -ah /var | sort -h | tail -20

du summarises directories; combine with targeted find once you know the heavy subtree.

Verify

df -h /var
sudo find /var -xdev -type f -size +1G | wc -l

Large-file count should drop after cleanup; confirm services still start and logs still write.

Related guides

• Find disk usage with du and ncdu
• Fix no space left on device