"find -L . -name" - Search Files on Android System

Android Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟"find -L . -name" - Search Files on Android System

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use the 'find -L . -name' command on the 'adb shell' interface to search files on Android systems.

If you are looking for specific files on an Android system, you can use the "find -L . -name" command on the "adb shell" interface as shown in examples below.

1. Find a find with a given name under a given directory. I need to find the file "Resume.pdf" I saved from an email. The "-L" option is to follow symbolic links when searching sub-directories.

herong$ adb shell find -L /storage -name Resume.pdf

find: No /storage/emulated: Permission denied
/storage/self/primary/Download/Resume.pdf

2. Find all directories related to a keyword: "YouTube". The "2>/dev/null" pipe option is to trash "permission denied” and other error messages.

herong$ adb shell find -L / -name YouTube 2>/dev/null

/product/app/YouTube
/system/product/app/YouTube

This command may take a long time to finish, since it searches the entire file system hierarchy. You can terminate it by pressing Control-C.

3. Find files with a given pattern: "*.mp4".

herong$ adb shell find -L /storage -name *.mp4

/storage/self/primary/Movies/Messenger/received_892608415163156.mp4
  (Videos received from Messenger)
/storage/self/primary/DCIM/Camera/20230420_144750.mp4
/storage/self/primary/DCIM/Camera/20230513_121250.mp4
  (Videos recorded from Camera)
/storage/self/primary/Android/data/easy.sudoku.puzzle...xmrbwg.mp4
  (Videos used by the Sudoku app)