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How to find when the last modification happened in a directory

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How to find when the last modification happened within a directory on Linux?

Use the du command and show the last modification time by using the --time option.

du -sh --time

Use the du command to scan a directory and find when the last modification was made. The related modification time will be displayed when using du with the --time option.

# du -sh --time /var
1.2G	2024-06-01 21:45	/var

The time option will show the last modification time of a file or subdirectory within the directory that was specified.

Learn more about du

This article uses the du command to achieve its tasks. For this popular tool there is a cheat sheet available!

» Mastering the tool: du

du

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This article has been written by our Linux security expert Michael Boelen. With focus on creating high-quality articles and relevant examples, he wants to improve the field of Linux security. No more web full of copy-pasted blog posts.

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