Check Disk Space with df and du

When a disk fills up, programs stop working properly. df shows how much space is free on each disk, and du shows which folders are using it.

df -h

Shows the size, used space and free space of each disk, in easy to read units (G, M).

df -h /home

Shows just the disk that holds /home.

du -sh documents/

Shows the total size of the documents folder.

du -h --max-depth=1 . | sort -h

Shows the size of each folder in the current directory, smallest to largest.

du -sh * | sort -h | tail

Shows the 10 biggest files and folders in the current directory.

sudo du -xh --max-depth=1 / 2>/dev/null | sort -h

Shows which top-level folders use the most space on the main disk. -x stays on one disk.

find . -type f -size +100M

Lists files bigger than 100 MB. See the find guide for more.

Tip: ncdu is an interactive tool for exploring disk use. Install it with sudo apt install ncdu, then run ncdu.

Option	Meaning
`df -h`	Free space on each disk
`du -sh folder`	Total size of a folder
`du -h --max-depth=1`	Size of each folder, one level down
`sort -h`	Sort sizes like 1K, 2M, 3G
`-x`	Stay on one disk