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dircolors — Output commands to set the `$LS_COLOR` environment variable and style `ls`, `dir`, etc. More informa

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the dircolors command: Output commands to set the $LS_COLOR environment variable and style ls, dir, etc. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/dircolors-invocation.html>.

Solution

dircolors — Output commands to set the $LS_COLOR environment variable and style ls, dir, etc. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/dircolors-invocation.html>.

Output commands to set $LS_COLOR using default colors:

dircolors

Display each filetype with the color they would appear in ls:

dircolors --print-ls-colors

Output commands to set $LS_COLOR using colors from a file:

dircolors {{path/to/file}}

Output commands for Bourne shell:

dircolors {{[-b|--bourne-shell]}}

Output commands for C shell:

dircolors {{[-c|--c-shell]}}

View the default colors for file types and extensions:

dircolors {{[-p|--print-database]}}

Code Snippets

Output commands to set `$LS_COLOR` using default colors

dircolors

Display each filetype with the color they would appear in `ls`

dircolors --print-ls-colors

Output commands to set `$LS_COLOR` using colors from a file

dircolors {{path/to/file}}

Output commands for Bourne shell

dircolors {{[-b|--bourne-shell]}}

Output commands for C shell

dircolors {{[-c|--c-shell]}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/dircolors

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