stat
stat is like reading the details on a library card for a file: how big it is, who can use it and when it was last touched. It shows more than the quick look you get from ls.
In this page:
Syntax
stat file_namestat
stat reports detailed metadata about a file, including size, permissions, and timestamps, more comprehensively than ls -l.
Its exact output format differs slightly between Linux and macOS, but the core information it exposes is the same. It's often used in scripts that need to check things like file size or modification time programmatically.
Note:
Use
stat -c %s file on Linux to get just the file size in bytes, suitable for capturing in a variable.Example: stat
#!/bin/bash
echo "some sample content" > info.txt
stat info.txt
size=$(stat -c %s info.txt 2>/dev/null || stat -f %z info.txt)
echo "File size in bytes: $size"Login to try C/C++/Java/PHP code in the editor
Related Topics
{# common_mistakes/chapter_summary/browser_support: on Hindi pages the
view already swaps in the hi_ translation fields (or blanks these
out if untranslated), so this renders correctly for both languages
without a lang_code check here. #}
Common Mistakes
- Assuming
stathas the same options on Linux and macOS, since format flags differ. - Forgetting the quotes around file names with spaces.
- Confusing modification time (content changed) with change time (metadata such as permissions changed).
Chapter Summary
- File tests such as
-f,-d, and-echeck whether files and directories exist and what they are. - Reading, writing, appending, and line-by-line processing handle file contents, and globbing matches file names.
find,cp,mv,rm, directory operations, permissions, andstatmanage the filesystem.
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