How to Check Disk Space in Linux Using Df Command
You can use the df command on Linux and Unix operating systems to acquire a thorough report on the system’s disk space consumption.
Using the df Command
The general syntax for the df command is as follows:
df [OPTIONS]... FILESYSTEM...
When used without any parameter, the df program will provide information about all mounted file systems :
$df
Output
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
dev 8172848 0 8172848 0% /dev
run 8218640 1696 8216944 1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p3 222284728 183057872 27865672 87% /
tmpfs 8218640 150256 8068384 2% /dev/shm
tmpfs 8218640 0 8218640 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs 8218640 24 8218616 1% /tmp
/dev/nvme0n1p1 523248 107912 415336 21% /boot
/dev/sda1 480588496 172832632 283320260 38% /data
tmpfs 1643728 40 1643688 1% /run/user/1000
Each line has the following columns:
“Filesystem” – The name of the filesystem.
“1K-blocks” - The size of the filesystem in 1K blocks.
“Utilized” - The used space in 1K blocks.
“Available” - The available space in 1K blocks.
“Use per cent” – The proportion of utilized space.
“Mounted on” is the directory on which the filesystem is mounted.
To show information exclusively for a particular file system, supply its name or the mount point to the df command.
For example, to see the space available on the file system mounted to the system root directory (/), you may use either df /dev/nvme0n1p3 or df /.
$df /
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/nvme0n1p3 222284728 183057872 27865672 87% /
Show Disk Space Usage in Human Readable Format
By default, the df program displays the disk space in 1-kilobyte blocks and the amount of utilized and available disk space in kilobytes.
To show information about disk devices in human-readable format (kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and so on), use the df command with the -h option:
$df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
dev 7.8G 0 7.8G 0% /dev
run 7.9G 1.8M 7.9G 1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p3 212G 176G 27G 88% /
tmpfs 7.9G 145M 7.7G 2% /dev/shm
tmpfs 7.9G 0 7.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs 7.9G 24K 7.9G 1% /tmp
/dev/nvme0n1p1 511M 106M 406M 21% /boot
/dev/sda1 459G 165G 271G 38% /data
tmpfs 1.6G 16K 1.6G 1% /run/user/1000
File System Types
The -T option instructs df to list file system types:
df -t
The report adds an extra column entitled “Kind,” indicating the type of the filesystem:
Output
Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
dev devtmpfs 8172848 0 8172848 0% /dev
run tmpfs 8218640 1744 8216896 1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p3 ext4 222284728 183666100 27257444 88% /
tmpfs tmpfs 8218640 383076 7835564 5% /dev/shm
tmpfs tmpfs 8218640 0 8218640 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs tmpfs 8218640 24 8218616 1% /tmp
/dev/nvme0n1p1 vfat 523248 107912 415336 21% /boot
/dev/sda1 ext4 480588496 172832632 283320260 38% /data
tmpfs tmpfs 1643728 40 1643688 1% /run/user/1000
If you wish to restrict the listing to file systems of a specific type, use the -t option followed by the kind.
Here is an example demonstrating how to display all ext4 partitions:
df -t ext4
Output:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/nvme0n1p3 222284728 183666112 27257432 88% /
/dev/sda1 480588496 172832632 283320260 38% /data
Similar to above, the -x option enables you to restrict the output to file systems that are not of a specified type:
df -x tmpfs
Output:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
dev 8172848 0 8172848 0% /dev
run 8218640 1696 8216944 1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p3 222284728 183057872 27865672 87% /
/dev/nvme0n1p1 523248 107912 415336 21% /boot
/dev/sda1 480588496 172832632 283320260 38% /data
Display Inode Usage
An inode is a data structure in Unix and Linux file systems, which holds information on a file or directory such as its size, owner, device node, socket, pipe, etc., except da.
When used with the -i option, the df command provides information on the filesystem inodes usage.
The command below will reveal information about the inodes on the file system mounted to system root directory / in human-readable format:
df -ih /
Output:
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
/dev/nvme0n1p3 14M 1.9M 12M 14% /
When the -I option is used, each line of the output contains the following columns:
“Filesystem” – The name of the filesystem.
“Inodes” - The total amount of inodes on the file system.
“I used” - The number of utilized inodes.
“IFree” - The number of free (unused) inodes.
“IUse percent ” – The proportion of utilized inodes.
“Mounted on” is the directory on which the filesystem is mounted.
Output format
The df command also enables you to change the output format.
To define the fields you wish to be presented in the command output, use the —output[=FIELD LIST] option.
FIELD LIST is a comma-separated list of columns in the output. Each field may be used only once. Valid field names are:
source - The File system source.
fstype - The File system type.
itotal - Total number of inodes.
iused - Number of the used inodes.
iavail - Number of the available inodes.
ipcent - Percentage of utilized inodes.
Size - Total disk space.
Used - Used disk space.
Available - Available disk space.
pcent - Percentage of utilized space.
File: The file name is given on the command line.
target - The mount point.
For example, to display the output of every ext4 partition in human-readable format, revealing just the filesystem name and size and the percentage of the utilized space you would use:
df -h -t ext4 —output=source,size,pcent
Output:
Filesystem Size Use%
/dev/nvme0n1p3 212G 88%
/dev/sda1 459G 38%
Conclusion
We’ve taught you how to use the df command to receive a report on the filesystem disk space use. To read all possible df command options by entering man df on your terminal.
To find out the disk space utilization of files and directories, use the du program.
