handle filenames starting with a dash with -- or ./

mv -- -file.txt dest

mv ./-file.txt dest

(otherwise mv thinks -file.txt is an invalid option)

match all filenames ending in .png

rm *.png

(*.png is called a “glob” and it’s handled by the shell so you can use it with any program!)

match .png files in any subdirectory

rm **/*.png

(only works in zsh/fish)

match filenames starting with a dot

ls .*

(these aren’t included in * by default)

* gotcha: regular expressions

if you want to pass a regexp with a * to grep:

grep '\s*test' file.txt

you need to quote it otherwise it will be treated as a glob

you can drag files from your GUI file manager to escape the filename

This only works if your terminal emulator supports it.

GNU ls will quote filenames with spaces in the name

$ ls 
"julia's file.txt"

(properly quoted!)

you can check if you have this feature by running:

ls --quoting-style=shell