Three types of time are supported for files stored on Linux, which can be accessed via the ls command.

  • mtime: time of last modification of file contents. When ls -l is called, this is displayed by default. Possible options for ls are as follows.
    • -t: do not show time and sort by mtime.
    • -l: show mtime and sort by file name.
    • -l -t: show mtime and sort by mtime.
  • atime: file access time.
    • -u: do not show time and sort by atime.
    • -l -u: show atime and sort by file name.
    • -l -t -u: show atime and sort by atime.
  • ctime: time of last modification of file status information.
    • -c: do not show time and sort by ctime.
    • -l -c: show ctime and sort by file name.
    • -l -t -c: show ctime and sort by ctime.

Furthermore, if the option --full-time is present, the full-ISO format of the date and time will be displayed.