Show only hidden files (dot files) in ls alias

Question

I'm using the command

ls -a | grep '^\.'

for showing only the hidden files. I added the line

alias hidden='ls -a | grep '^\.'' # show only hidden files

to .bash_aliases file

but this does not work. It's probably the problem with ' character.

Could you please help me write the correct alias (and possible rename the title for this question)?

Answer 1

Either make the inner pair of quotes double quotes:

alias hidden='ls -a | grep "^\."'

Or make the outer pair of quotes double quotes:

alias hidden="ls -a | grep '^\.'"

Or make all quotes double quotes and escape the inner pair:

alias hidden="ls -a | grep \"^\.\""

Or make it a function, so you can pass some arguments when calling:

hidden() { ls -a "$@" | grep '^\.'; }

Answer 2

Have the shell list the dot files, and tell ls not to see through directories:

ls -d .*

Answer 3

You can use double quotes:

alias hidden="ls -a | grep '^\.'"

or concatenate more single quoted strings

alias hidden='ls -a | grep '\''^\.'\'

or remove at all internal quotes

alias hidden='ls -a | grep ^\\.'

Answer 4

For the record this doesn't seem to work with me, since ls -a prints two (sometimes more columns). I would recommend using the -1 option to make sure every file is in its own line. Something like this:

alias hidden='ls -a1 | grep "^\."'

Answer 5

ls -Ad .* #This will list all the hidden files & directories while retaining the color & formatting

OR

To create an alias of the same:

alias lh='ls -Ad .*'

OR

Same thing could be done via grep command and pipe operator; however it would loose the color and formatting:

ls -a|grep "^\." 

OR

Via alias:

alias lh='ls -a|grep "^\."'

Answer 6

Does your ls support -A? From man ls:

    -a, --all
          do not ignore entries starting with .

   -A, --almost-all
          do not list implied . and ..

$ ls --version
ls (GNU coreutils) 8.5
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