Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@thomd

thomd/LC_COLORS.md

Last active September 10, 2025 00:32
Show Gist options
  • Save thomd/7667642 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save thomd/7667642 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP

Revisions

  1. thomd revised this gist Apr 4, 2014. 1 changed file with 2 additions and 0 deletions.
    2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions LC_COLORS.md
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
    alternatively use: http://geoff.greer.fm/lscolors/

    # LSCOLORS

    The value of this variable describes what color to use for which attribute when colors are enabled with CLICOLOR. This string is a concatenation of pairs of
  2. thomd created this gist Nov 26, 2013.
    106 changes: 106 additions & 0 deletions LC_COLORS.md
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
    # LSCOLORS

    The value of this variable describes what color to use for which attribute when colors are enabled with CLICOLOR. This string is a concatenation of pairs of
    the format fb, where f is the foreground color and b is the background color.

    The color designators are as follows:

    a black
    b red
    c green
    d brown
    e blue
    f magenta
    g cyan
    h light grey
    A bold black, usually shows up as dark grey
    B bold red
    C bold green
    D bold brown, usually shows up as yellow
    E bold blue
    F bold magenta
    G bold cyan
    H bold light grey; looks like bright white
    x default foreground or background

    Note that the above are standard ANSI colors. The actual display may differ depending on the color capabilities of the terminal in use.

    The order of the attributes are as follows:

    1. directory
    2. symbolic link
    3. socket
    4. pipe
    5. executable
    6. block special
    7. character special
    8. executable with setuid bit set
    9. executable with setgid bit set
    10. directory writable to others, with sticky bit
    11. directory writable to others, without sticky bit

    The default is `exfxcxdxbxegedabagacad`, i.e. blue foreground and default background for regular directories, black foreground and red background for setuid
    executables, etc.




    # LS_COLORS

    LS_COLORS='di=1:fi=0:ln=31:pi=5:so=5:bd=5:cd=5:or=31'

    The parameters for LS_COLORS (di, fi, ln, pi, etc) refer to different file types:

    di Directory
    fi File
    ln Symbolic Link
    pi Fifo file
    so Socket file
    bd Block (buffered) special file
    cd Character (unbuffered) special file
    or Symbolic Link pointing to a non-existent file (orphan)
    mi Non-existent file pointed to by a symbolic link (visible when you type ls -l)
    ex File which is executable (ie. has 'x' set in permissions).

    ### Color Codes

    Through trial and error I worked out the color codes for `LS_COLORS` to be:

    0 = Default Colour
    1 = Bold
    4 = Underlined
    5 = Flashing Text
    7 = Reverse Field
    31 = Red
    32 = Green
    33 = Orange
    34 = Blue
    35 = Purple
    36 = Cyan
    37 = Grey
    40 = Black Background
    41 = Red Background
    42 = Green Background
    43 = Orange Background
    44 = Blue Background
    45 = Purple Background
    46 = Cyan Background
    47 = Grey Background
    90 = Dark Grey
    91 = Light Red
    92 = Light Green
    93 = Yellow
    94 = Light Blue
    95 = Light Purple
    96 = Turquoise
    100 = Dark Grey Background
    101 = Light Red Background
    102 = Light Green Background
    103 = Yellow Background
    104 = Light Blue Background
    105 = Light Purple Background
    106 = Turquoise Background

    These codes can also be combined with one another:

    di=5;34;43