What is a recursive listing of files?

Recursive means that Linux or Unix command works with the contains of directories, and if a directory has subdirectories and files, the command works on those files too (recursively). Say you have a directory structure as follows:
tree dir1

From the above outputs, it is clear that running the tree dir1 gives a list of dir1 directory and its subdirectories and files. The base directory is dir1. Then you have all the child directroies. All all the child directories have additional files and directories (say grand directories), and so on. You can use various Linux commands going through each directory recursively until it hits the end of the directory tree. At that point Linux commands come back up to a branch in the tree a does the same thing for any sub-directories if any.

How to get a recursive directory listing in Linux or Unix

Try any one of the following command:

1. ls -R : Use the ls command to get recursive directory listing on Linux
2. find /dir/ -print : Run the find command to see recursive directory listing in Linux
3. du -a . : Execute the du command to view recursive directory listing on Unix

Let us see some examples to get a recursive directory listing in Unix or Linux systems.

Linux recursive directory listing command

Type the following command:
ls -R
ls -R /tmp/dir1

Unix recursive directory listing command

Since, not all versions of Linux, macOS, *BSD, and Unix-like system have -R option for the ls command. Try to use find command:
find . -print
find /tmp/dir1 -print
find /tmp/dir1/ -print -ls

How to list all files recursively in a directory

Our final example uses the du command as follows:
du -a .
du -a /tmp/dir1/
You can also use the tree command as follows:
tree .
tree /tmp/dir1/

Recursively working with files

It is possible to run command recursively on files. The syntax is:
my-command-here $(find /dir/ -name 'pattern' -print)
rm -i $(find /home/nixcraft/ -name '*.bak' -print)
Of course, your can run command using find itself:
find /dir1/ -name 'pattern' -print -exec command ;
find /dir1/ -name 'pattern' -print -exec command {} ;
find /dir/2/foo/bar -name "*.pl" -exec rm -rivf {} \;
find /dir1/ -type f -name "*.doc" -exec rm -fiv {} \;
## find file recursively and delete them ##
find /dir1/ -name 'pattern' -print -delete
See “Linux / Unix: Find And Remove Files With One Command On Fly” for more info.

Conclusion

You learned how to list all files recursively in a directory under Linux, macOS, *BSD and Unix-like operating system using the ls, du, and find commands.