The Linux stat Command: File Statistics

The Linux stat Command: File Statistics

stat displays detailed file and filesystem metadata - inode, timestamps, permissions, and more.

Basic Usage

stat file.txt

Shows file details.

Output Details

• Size — File size in bytes
• Blocks — Blocks allocated
• IO Block — Block size
• File type
• Device — Device number
• Inode — Inode number
• Links — Hard link count
• Access — Permissions (octal & symbolic)
• Uid/Gid — User and group IDs
• Access — atime (last accessed)
• Modify — mtime (last modified)
• Change — ctime (last status change)
• Birth — Creation time

Options

• -c — Custom format
• -L — Follow symlinks
• -t — Terse output
• -f — Filesystem stats

Examples

Custom format

stat -c "%s %n" file.txt

Size and name only.

Timestamps only

stat -c "%y %x %z" file.txt

mtime, atime, ctime.

Further Reading

• stat Manual
• stat Command Builder