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Frantumn
Asked: 2012-11-02 08:58:09 +0800 CST

How to have `ll` command not display hidden files

  • 772

When I type ll or ls to list the contents of a directory...

The ls command shows un-hidden files and folders in a horizontal view.
To show the hidden folders, I have to type ls -a. I like how this works.

The ll command shows all files and folders, including hidden ones without needing to add -a.

I would like ll to list only unhidden files and folders by default. And if I want to show the hidden ones, I'd like to have to type ll -a. How can I set this up?

command-line

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Open the file .bashrc in your home directory. The should be an entry which looks like:

    alias ll='ls -la'

    Remove the last a, save the file and open a new shell. Now ll should work as want you. If you do not find the line, you can add it to your .bashrc:

    alias ll='ls -l'
    • 9

  2. Technically ll is not a command on its own but an alias setup for slightly longer commands; by default it is set to ls -l.

    For instance on your case, you can set ll to ls -l with

    alias ll='ls -l'

    to your .bashrc file.

    You can also use alias to add some time-saving commands. For instance, if you often update from the terminal you can assign a shortcut string to the command apt-get update and apt-get upgrade with: 

    alias up='apt-get update && apt-get upgrade'

    Now you can just type up to save time.

    • 3

  3. Add these lines:

    # Custom aliases
alias l='ls -a'
alias ll='ls -l'
alias la='ls -la'

    to the end of ~/.bashrc, for example using:

    nano .bashrc
    • -2