How to find what files are taking space in Linux

If your Linux system is running out of disk space or your quota is being exceeded, you may need to locate big files so they can be analyzed or deleted. To do this, we suggest using the find command.

Type cd / to get to the root directory, get to your home directory, or get to the directory you want to search from and type the following command.

find . -size +500000 -print

This command searches for anything that's larger than 500 MB. If no files are found that meet this minimum size, the value can be adjusted to a smaller size. Often error logs, stat logs, and other log files that grow over time can exceed the value above. Many of these log files can be deleted, reset, or moved to save on disk space.

Finally, if you use a web host whose quota is reached and have no large files that can be deleted, try asking for an increase in your quota size.