Drive Space Cheat Sheet for Linux/Ubuntu Machines

I find myself forgetting syntax when it comes to checking drive space and freeing space, here is a handy cheat sheet you hopefully will find handy for finding and cleaning up old data from your Ubuntu machine.

Note! Whenever cleaning up, take a backup first!

Checking Drive Space

• df -h : Check disk space usage in human-readable format
• df -i : Check inode usage (number of files)
• du -sh / : Estimate disk space usage of the root directory
• du -sh ~ : Estimate disk space usage of your home directory

Finding Large Files and Directories

• find / -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \; : Find files larger than 100MB
• find / -type d -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \; : Find directories larger than 100MB
• du -a / | sort -n -r | head -n 10 : Show top 10 largest directories and files

Freeing Up Space

• sudo apt autoremove : Remove unnecessary packages
• sudo apt clean : Remove package cache
• sudo rm -rf /tmp/* : Remove temporary files
• sudo rm -rf ~/.cache/* : Remove user cache files

Additional Tips

• Regularly clean up your /var/log directory to prevent log file buildup
• Consider setting up a cron job to automate disk cleanup tasks

Remember to always be cautious when deleting files and directories, and make sure to backup your data before making any changes!