Linux Command: locate

The locate command finds files by name using a pre-built database, making it orders of magnitude faster than find for simple name searches. It searches a database of file paths rather than traversing the filesystem. The database is typically updated daily by a cron job running updatedb, or can be refreshed manually. Because it uses a database, locate cannot find files created since the last database update. locate supports pattern matching with wildcards and regular expressions. It is ideal for quickly finding where a file or program is installed, locating configuration files, and general file discovery tasks where real-time accuracy is not critical.

Syntax

locate [OPTION]... PATTERN

Key Options

• -i — Case-insensitive search
• -c — Print only the count of matches
• -l — Limit output to N results
• -r — Use POSIX regex instead of glob pattern
• -e — Print only existing files (skip deleted)
• -b — Match only the basename (filename without path)

Examples

Find a file quickly

locate nginx.conf

Output: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf\n/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.bak

Case-insensitive search

locate -i readme

Count matching files

locate -c "*.php"

Output: 2847

Pro Tips

• locate uses a pre-built database. Newly created files will not appear until updatedb runs. Use find for real-time searches.
• locate is 100-1000x faster than find for simple name searches. Use it as your first tool, then switch to find if you need freshness or complex criteria.
• Modern Linux uses plocate (faster) or mlocate. Both provide the locate command with compatible interfaces.

Learn more: Full locate reference →