locate – find files by name quickly

locate finds files by name using a pre-built database, making it much faster than find.

Synopsis

locate [OPTIONS] PATTERN

Common Options

Examples

Basic search

$ locate nginx.conf
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.bak

Case-insensitive

$ locate -i readme
/home/greys/README.md
/usr/share/doc/bash/README

Limit results

$ locate -n 5 "*.log"

Count matches

$ locate -c "*.py"
1234

Pattern matching

$ locate "*/bin/python*"
/usr/bin/python3
/usr/bin/python3.10

Update the Database

The database must be updated to find new files:

$ sudo updatedb

Typically runs automatically via cron, but run manually after adding files.

locate vs find

# locate is faster for name searches
$ locate nginx.conf        # Instant

# find is needed for complex queries
$ find / -name "*.log" -mtime -1    # Modified today

Configuration

Database location: /var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db

Config: /etc/updatedb.conf

Tips

• Run updatedb after installing: New files won’t appear until then
• Use find for recent files: locate database may be hours old
• Install if missing: apt install mlocate or plocate
• Faster alternative: plocate is newer and faster

See Also

Related Commands

• find — Search filesystem directly
• updatedb — Update locate database

Tutorials

• Basic Unix Commands