Listing and Inspecting

Overview

Questions

• How do I list files and directories in cloud storage?
• How can I visualize directory structure?
• How do I read file contents, delete files, and manage directories?

Objectives

• Use rclone ls and rclone lsd to list files and folders
• Visualize directory structure with rclone tree
• Create and delete directories with rclone mkdir, rclone delete, and rclone purge
• Read file contents with rclone cat

Listing Contents: rclone ls

---

The rclone ls command lists files in a directory (not folders).

BASH

rclone ls pomona-box:/

Expected output:

    12345 file.txt
    67890 presentation.pptx

This shows file size (in bytes) and filename. Useful options:

BASH

# Count total files
rclone ls pomona-box:/ | wc -l

# Human-readable sizes
rclone ls pomona-box:/ --human-readable

Listing Directories: rclone lsd

---

The rclone lsd command lists only directories (folders), not files.

BASH

rclone lsd pomona-box:/

Expected output:

          -1 2026-02-15 10:30:00        -1 My Research
          -1 2026-01-20 14:45:00        -1 Project Data

Visualizing Structure: rclone tree

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The rclone tree command shows the directory structure graphically:

BASH

rclone tree pomona-box:/rclone-test

Expected output:

/
├── file1.txt
├── file2.csv
└── subfolder/
    ├── nested-file.txt
    └── data.json

Limit depth with --max-depth:

BASH

rclone tree pomona-box:/ --max-depth 2

Creating Directories: rclone mkdir

---

BASH

rclone mkdir pomona-box:/my-new-folder
rclone mkdir pomona-box:/rclone-test/subfolder

Create multiple levels one at a time:

BASH

rclone mkdir pomona-box:/level1
rclone mkdir pomona-box:/level1/level2
rclone mkdir pomona-box:/level1/level2/level3

Reading File Contents: rclone cat

---

Display the contents of a file in cloud storage without downloading it:

BASH

rclone cat pomona-box:/rclone-test/notes.txt

Preview a CSV file before downloading:

BASH

rclone cat pomona-box:/results.csv | head -5

Deleting Files and Folders

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rclone delete

Removes files but not the folder itself. Use with caution: this is irreversible!

BASH

# Delete all files in a folder
rclone delete pomona-box:/rclone-test

# Delete files matching a pattern
rclone delete pomona-box:/rclone-test --include "*.tmp"

rclone purge

Deletes a folder and all contents:

BASH

rclone purge pomona-box:/rclone-test

Always Use –dry-run First!

BASH

rclone delete pomona-box:/rclone-test --dry-run
rclone purge pomona-box:/rclone-test --dry-run

Quick Reference: Common Commands

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Command	Purpose	Syntax
ls	List files	rclone ls remote:path
lsd	List directories	rclone lsd remote:path
tree	Show folder structure	rclone tree remote:path
mkdir	Create folder	rclone mkdir remote:path
cat	Display file content	rclone cat remote:path
delete	Delete files	rclone delete remote:path
purge	Delete folder + contents	rclone purge remote:path
check	Verify integrity	rclone check source dest
size	Show total size	rclone size remote:path

Challenge

Challenge 6.1: List and Inspect

List files in your test folder using different commands:

BASH

rclone ls pomona-box:/rclone-test
rclone lsd pomona-box:/rclone-test
rclone tree pomona-box:/rclone-test --max-depth 2

Compare: What does each command show differently?

Show me the solution

Each command shows different information:

rclone ls – lists files only with sizes:

       15 file1.txt
       15 subfolder/file2.txt

rclone lsd – lists directories only:

          -1 2026-03-05 15:10:00        -1 challenge5

rclone tree --max-depth 2 – shows the hierarchical structure of both files and folders:

/
└── challenge5/
    ├── file1.txt
    └── subfolder/

Use ls to find specific files, lsd to see top-level folders, and tree to visualize the full layout.

Challenge

Challenge 6.2: Delete Safely

Clean up test files using --dry-run first:

BASH

rclone delete pomona-onedrive:/rclone-test/box-backup --dry-run

Verify the dry-run output shows exactly what you want to delete. Then delete:

BASH

rclone delete pomona-onedrive:/rclone-test/box-backup

Confirm files are gone:

BASH

rclone ls pomona-onedrive:/rclone-test/box-backup

Note: The folder itself remains (empty). To remove the empty folder too, use rclone purge.

Show me the solution

The dry-run should show files that would be deleted:

2026/03/05 15:20:15 INFO  : file1.txt: Deleted (dry run)
2026/03/05 15:20:15 INFO  : subfolder/file2.txt: Deleted (dry run)

After executing rclone delete, rclone ls pomona-onedrive:/rclone-test/box-backup should return no output, meaning no files remain. To remove the empty folder entirely, use rclone purge pomona-onedrive:/rclone-test/box-backup.

Key Points

• rclone ls lists files, rclone lsd lists directories, and rclone tree shows the complete folder structure
• rclone cat displays file contents without downloading, useful for previewing data
• rclone delete removes files (not folders) while rclone purge removes folders and all contents
• Always preview destructive operations with –dry-run before executing them