Check Disk Space on Linux: df, du & find Commands

Handling disk space is an essential duty for Linux administrators and users. When a disk becomes full, it can slow down performance, break services, and even block user access to important directories. Whether managing a personal computer, a dedicated server, or a cloud instance, knowing how to monitor disk usage ensures system reliability and prevents unexpected downtime.

This guide demonstrates how to review disk space and usage on Linux with built-in terminal tools. You will see how to detect large files, evaluate mounted file systems, and fix disk-related problems effectively.

Commands to Check Disk Space and Usage

Linux provides several command-line utilities to track and manage storage usage. These commands reveal how much space is consumed, how much remains, and which files or directories are taking the most capacity. Using them regularly helps avoid system lags, service interruptions, and data issues caused by full partitions.

Common Disk Management Commands

How to Check Disk Space

The df command gives a quick snapshot of storage usage across all mounted partitions. Use it to identify low-space partitions before system performance is affected.

df Command Syntax

The general syntax is:

df [OPTION]... [FILE]...

[OPTION]: Flags passed to the command.

[FILE]: A file or directory. If not specified, all mounted file systems are displayed.

Common df Options

df Command Examples

Show all mounted file systems in human-readable format:

df -h

Example output:

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda2       150G   12G  132G   9% /
/dev/vda1       260M  7.1M  253M   3% /boot/efi
tmpfs           768M  4.0K  768M   1% /run/user/1000
/dev/vdb1        40G  1.1G   37G   3% /mnt
/dev/vdc1        40G  375M   40G   1% /home

Here you can see columns for Filesystem, Size, Used, Available, Usage %, and Mount point.

Check usage of a single mount point:

df -h /mnt

Filter by file system type (e.g., ext4):

df -h -t ext4

Exclude a specific type (e.g., tmpfs):

df -h -x tmpfs

Show output with file system types included:

df -hT

Check inode usage:

df -i

How to Check Disk Usage

The du command calculates and displays disk usage of files and directories. It's valuable for identifying large items that may need cleanup.

du Command Syntax

du [OPTION]... [FILE]...

du Command Options

du Command Examples

Check usage of a directory:

sudo du -sh /path/to/directory

Include hidden files:

sudo du -ah /path/to/directory

Exclude specific files:

sudo du -ah --exclude='*.log' /path/to/directory

Limit depth to top-level subdirectories:

sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /var

Sort by size:

sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /var | sort -rh

Find files larger than 50MB:

sudo find /var -type f -size +50M -exec ls -lh {} \;

Conclusion

With commands like df, du, and find, you can efficiently monitor storage, detect large files, and prevent downtime due to full disks. Applying these tools keeps your Linux systems optimized and reliable.