rclone Ls

rclone ls lists all files recursively at the given path, showing file size (in bytes) and full relative path. It's the most common inspection command — equivalent to a recursive ls -lR but for any rclone remote.

Quick Summary

ls is recursive by default and shows files only (not directories). Use lsd for directories, and lsf for customizable output formats.

Basic Syntax

rclone ls REMOTE:PATH [flags]

# List all files in a remote bucket
rclone ls remote:my-bucket

# List files under a specific prefix/path
rclone ls remote:my-bucket/backups/2024

# List local directory
rclone ls /var/www/html

Output Format

Each line shows: SIZE PATH

    1234 documents/report.pdf
   56789 images/photo.jpg
     456 config/settings.json

Key Flags

Flag	Description
--max-depth N	Limit recursion depth
--include PATTERN	Only show files matching pattern
--exclude PATTERN	Hide files matching pattern
--min-size SIZE	Only show files larger than SIZE
--max-size SIZE	Only show files smaller than SIZE
--min-age DURATION	Only show files older than DURATION
--max-age DURATION	Only show files newer than DURATION

Practical Examples

Inspect a Remote Bucket

# See everything in a bucket
rclone ls remote:my-bucket

# See only the top level (no deep recursion)
rclone ls remote:my-bucket --max-depth 1

Find Large Files

# List files larger than 100 MB
rclone ls remote:backups --min-size 100M

Filter by File Type

# List only SQL dump files
rclone ls remote:backups --include "*.sql.gz"

# List only images
rclone ls remote:media --include "*.{jpg,png,gif,webp}"

Find Recent Files

# Files modified in the last 24 hours
rclone ls remote:uploads --max-age 24h

# Files older than 30 days
rclone ls remote:archive --min-age 30d

Verify Backup Contents

# Count files and check sizes after a copy/sync
rclone ls remote:backups/www | wc -l
rclone ls remote:backups/www | awk '{sum += $1} END {printf "%.2f GB\n", sum/1073741824}'

ls vs lsd vs lsf vs lsl

Command	Shows	Recursive	Directories	Format
ls	Files only	✅	❌	SIZE PATH
lsd	Directories only	❌ (1 level)	✅	MODIFIED_DATE DIR
lsf	Files and/or dirs	Configurable	Configurable	Customizable
lsl	Files only	✅	❌	SIZE MODIFIED_DATE PATH

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall	Consequence	Prevention
Running ls on a bucket with millions of files	Extremely slow, high API costs	Use --max-depth 1 or --include to narrow scope
Expecting directories in output	ls only shows files	Use lsd for directories
No size units	Sizes are in raw bytes, hard to read	Pipe through awk or use rclone size

What's Next

Examples with Output

1. List all files in a bucket

Get a recursive view of every file in your storage. Command:

rclone ls gdrive:backups

Output:

    1234 archive.tar.gz
   56789 logs/app.log
     456 metadata.json

2. Limit listing depth

See only the files in the top two levels. Command:

rclone ls remote:data --max-depth 2

Output:

   10000 level1.txt
    5000 folder1/level2.txt

3. Filter for large files

Identify files taking up significant space. Command:

rclone ls remote:bucket --min-size 1G

Output:

10737418240 giant_backup.iso

4. Search for specific file types

List only files that match a pattern. Command:

rclone ls remote:bucket --include "*.png"

Output:

   150000 images/logo.png
    80000 assets/icon.png

5. Check for recently modified files

List files modified in the last hour. Command:

rclone ls remote:bucket --max-age 1h

Output:

     1024 current_status.txt