exploring directory structure with the tree command

The tree command is a handy tool for visualizing directory structures in Unix-based systems. When combined with the --du -h options, it also displays disk usage in a human-readable format.

Using tree --du -h

tree --du -h

Example output

.
├── [  4.0K]  directory1
│   ├── [  1.1M]  file1.txt
│   ├── [  512K]  file2.log
│   └── [  2.0K]  subdirectory1
│       └── [  2.0K]  file3.csv
└── [  6.0K]  directory2
    └── [  3.4M]  file4.bin

6 directories, 4 files

Benefits

• visual hierarchy: understand your directory structure at a glance.
• disk usage insight: identify space-consuming files and directories.
• human-readable format: sizes displayed in kb, mb, etc.