I have a file's inode but not its path. How do I find it?
Aug 21, 2026
-
by John Britto
-
-
1 min read
Quick Linux Tip #50 :
Try: sudo find / -inum 524290 2>/dev/null
Info: Every file has a unique inode per filesystem. Running find -inum locates all directory entries pointing to that specific inode number.
Examples:
$ find / -inum 524290 2>/dev/null # Find file by inode number
$ ls -i file.txt # Display inode number for a file
$ find /home -samefile /home/linuxteck/original.txt # Find all matching hardlinks
Note: Hardlinks share the exact same inode number; symlinks do not. Files are deleted only when their link count drops to 0.
LinuxTeck.com
linuxteck@ubuntu:~$ sudo find / -inum 524290 2>/dev/null
/home/linuxteck/Documents/important.pdf
/home/linuxteck/Backup/important_link.pdf
linuxteck@ubuntu:~$ stat /home/linuxteck/Documents/important.pdf
File: /home/linuxteck/Documents/important.pdf
Size: 234567 Blocks: 464 IO Block: 4096 regular file
Device: 801h/2049d Inode: 524290 Links: 2
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 1000/linuxteck) Gid: ( 1000/linuxteck)
Access: 2026-08-10 15:23:45.123456789 +0000
Modify: 2026-08-08 10:12:34.987654321 +0000
Change: 2026-08-08 10:12:34.987654321 +0000
Birth: 2026-08-01 09:00:00.000000000 +0000
linuxteck@ubuntu:~$
About John Britto
John Britto Founder & Chief-Editor @LinuxTeck. A Computer Geek and Linux Intellectual having more than 20+ years of experience in Linux and Open Source technologies.
View all posts by John Britto →
Leave a Reply