Find files modified today, using command line (bash)

As we all know, despite being named "Finder", the Finder is virtually useless at finding files.

In Mac OS X 10.6 (or any version), how can I use the command line (bash in Terminal) to find files modified today?

Solution 1:

There are several ways to do this in bash from the terminal - depending on exactly what you want to find:

Find files modified in the last 24 hours

find / -mtime -1 -print

Find files modified today (likely what you want)

find / -newerct 'yesterday' -print

or, using Spotlight

mdfind date:today

This can also be done from the GUI with Spotlight.

1. Open Spotlight (option-command space by default).
2. Add a criteria to search for, by hitting the Plus sign near the top right of the Spotlight window.
3. Change the criteria to "Last modified date" is "today."