Practical command-line techniques to find which home folders and files consume your disk space. 04.12.2025 | reading time: 2 min A cluttered home directory can hide dozens of gigabytes; the shell gives clear answers fast. This short guide shows concrete commands to measure per-account usage, find the biggest files, and avoid common traps so he can reclaim space quickly. Quick Walkthrough Start with a per-account summary to spot heavy hitters: ``` $ du -sh /home/* 3.4G /home/alice 120M /home/bob 5.1G /home/charlie ``` Drill into a large account and sort the top-level folders: ``` $ du -h --max-depth=1 /home/alice | sort -hr 1.2G /home/alice/Videos 900M /home/alice/.cache 400M /home/alice/Documents ``` This shows where to focus the cleanup effort. Find the Biggest Files Files can hide in deep paths; locate them directly with find and du to act on the real culprits: ``` $ find /home -type f -size +100M -print0 | xargs -0 du -h | sort -hr | head -n 20 1.1G /home/charlie/backup.tar 350M /home/alice/virtualdisk.img ``` When a file is identified, inspect and remove or archive as appropriate. Options and Pitfalls Use `--max-depth` to limit recursion and `-h` for human output; remember that `du` reports allocated blocks by default and `--apparent-size` shows logical byte counts which can differ for sparse or compressed files. Exclude mountpoints or caches where necessary, and be careful with automated deletion: he should verify contents before removing anything. Related Utilities Worth Trying For interactive exploration try `ncdu` (runs `ncdu /home` to browse sizes), and for GUI fans the GNOME Disk Usage Analyzer helps visualize folders; lightweight tools like `dust` or scripted `find` pipelines are handy in automation and cleanup scripts. A Clear Next Step Once the largest folders and files are identified, prune, compress, or move data and add monitoring to prevent surprises; mastering these commands sharpens daily administration skills and prepares him for certification paths like CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1, with intensive exam preparation available at bitsandbytes.academy. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. filesystem utilities storage troubleshooting scripting
