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--- linux:find:find_empty_files [2020/05/05 17:36] – created peter
+++ linux:find:find_empty_files [2020/07/15 09:30] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Linux - Find - Find Empty Files ======
+<code bash>
+find ./ -type f -size 0
+</code>
+or
+<code bash>
+find ./ -type f -empty
+</code>
+This commands will find all zero size files in the current directory with sub-directories and then print the full pathname for each file to the screen.
+  * **./**  means start searching from the current directory. If you want to find files from another directory then replace the ./ with the path to needed directory.  For example, to search everything under the system log directory you need to replace ./ with /var/log.
+  * **-type f**  flag specifies to find only files.
+  * **-size 0** and **-empty** flags specifies to find zero length files.
+----
+===== Find and then delete all zero size files =====
+To find and then delete all zero size files, there are variants you can use:
+<code bash>
+find ./ -type f -size 0 -exec rm -f {} \;
+find ./ -type f -size 0 | xargs rm -f
+find ./ -type f -size 0 -delete
+</code>
+  * The xargs will cause all the filenames to be sent as arguments to the **rm -f** commands.  This will save processes that are forked every time **-exec rm -f** is run.  But it fails with spaces etc in file names.
+<WRAP info>
+**NOTE:**  The **-delete** option is the best choice when it is supported by the find you are using.
+It avoids the overhead of executing the **rm** command by doing the **unlink()** call inside **find()**.
+</WRAP>