Linux / Unix: Find hidden directories, files and folders

How to find hidden folder or directories on Unix-like operating systems?

You can use find command to find files.

Syntax:

                      find /path/to/search -name "folder"
find /path/to/search -name "dir1"
find /path/to/search -name ".dir2"
find /path/to/search -name "filename.txt"
find /path/to/search -name "dir*"
                    

Open a command prompt (bash shell). To find a hidden folder named .movies in your home directory, enter:

                      find $HOME -name ".movies"
                    

or

                      find ~ -name ".movies"
                    

To search the entire hard drive, type:

                      su - 
find / -name ".movies"
                    

OR use sudo directly

                      sudo find / -name ".movies"
                    

To match directory names in a case insensitive manner, such as finding .movies, .Movies, .MOVES, and so on, enter:

                      sudo find / -iname ".movies"
                    

see also:

How to create or show hidden files / folders in Linux