How to sort files in emacs dired?

Question

Emacs dired mode is an easy to use text-based file manager. By default, files are displayed in alphabetical order. Is there a way to sort the files by file size descending order?

Answer 1

You may customize the sort order by providing an argument to the dired-sort-toggle-or-edit which is bound to the s keystroke.

So to answer your question, just type Control+u s and pass the -lS switches. You may pass -lhS for human readable results.

Answer 2

You might want to use the extension dired-quick-sort. After setting it up, push "S" to display a sorting menu that offers many different ways to sort, including file size.

Disclaimer: I am the author of the extension.