Bash Shell Check Whether a Directory is Empty or Not

Source: Bash Shell Check Whether a Directory is Empty or Not

How do I check whether a directory is empty or not under Linux / UNIX using a shell script? I would like to take some action if directory is empty on a Linux or Unix like system. How can I check from bash/ksh shell script if a directory contains files? How do I check whether a directory is empty or not?

There are many ways to find out if a directory is empty or not under Linux and Unix bash shell. You can use the find command to list only files.

In this example, find command will only print file name from /tmp. If there is no output, directory is empty.

Check whether a directory is empty or not using find command

The basic syntax is as follows:

find /dir/name -type -f -exec command {} \;

OR GNU/BSD find command syntax:

find /path/to/dir -maxdepth 0 -empty -exec echo {} is empty. \;

OR

find /path/to/dir -type d -empty -exec command1 arg1 {} \;
In this example, check whether a directory called /tmp/ is empty or not, type:
$ find "/tmp" -type f -exec echo Found file {} \;
Sample outputs:

Found file /tmp/_.c
Found file /tmp/orbit-vivek/bonobo-activation-server-ior
Found file /tmp/orbit-vivek/bonobo-activation-register.lock
Found file /tmp/_.vsl
Found file /tmp/.X0-lock
Found file /tmp/.wine-1000/server-802-35437d/lock
Found file /tmp/.wine-1000/cxoffice-wine.lock
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/Arts_PlayObjectFactory
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/Arts_SimpleSoundServer
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/secret-cookie
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/Arts_AudioManager
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/Arts_SoundServer
Found file /tmp/ksocket-vivek/Arts_SoundServerV2
Found file /tmp/vcl.XXf8tgOA
Found file /tmp/Tracker-vivek.6126/cache.db
Found file /tmp/gconfd-vivek/lock/ior

However, the simplest and most effective way is to use ls command with -A option:
$ [ "$(ls -A /path/to/directory)" ] && echo "Not Empty" || echo "Empty"
or
$ [ "$(ls -A /tmp)" ] && echo "Not Empty" || echo "Empty"
You can use if..else.fi in a shell script:

 
#!/bin/bash
FILE=""
DIR="/tmp"
# init
# look for empty dir 
if [ "$(ls -A $DIR)" ]; then
     echo "Take action $DIR is not Empty"
else
    echo "$DIR is Empty"
fi
# rest of the logic

Here is another example using bash for loop to check for any *.c files in the ~/projects/ directory:

 
# Bourne/bash for loop example 
for z in ~/projects/*.c; do
        test -f "$z" || continue
        echo "Working on $z C program..."
done

Check if folder /data/ is empty or not using bash only features

From the Linux and Unix bash(1) man page:

• nullglob If set, bash allows patterns which match no files to expand to a null string, rather than themselves.
• dotglob – If set, bash includes filenames beginning with a . in the results of pathname expansion.

#!/bin/bash
# Set the variable for bash behavior
shopt -s nullglob
shopt -s dotglob
 
# Die if dir name provided on command line
[[ $# -eq 0 ]] && { echo "Usage: $0 dir-name"; exit 1; }
 
# Check for empty files using arrays 
chk_files=(${1}/*)
(( ${#chk_files[*]} )) && echo "Files found in $1 directory." || echo "Directory $1 is empty."
 
# Unset the variable  for bash behavior
shopt -u nullglob
shopt -u dotglob

Sample outputs:

$ ./script.sh /tmp
Files found in /tmp directory.
$ mkdir /tmp/foo
$ ./script.sh /tmp/foo
Directory /tmp/foo/ is empty.

A note about ksh user

Try for loop as follows:

 
## In ksh93, prefix ~(N) in front of the pattern
## For example, find out if *.mp4 file exits or not in a dir
cd $HOME/Downloads/music/
for f in ~(N)*.mp4; do
        # do something if file found
        echo "Working on $f..."
done