# Using find to run a command on multiple files

Find has an `-exec` action for running a command against found files.

```bash
# create backups of all markdown files
find . -type f -name '*.md' -exec cp {} {}.bak \;
```

The command will be executed for each found file. The construct '{}' will be replaced by the current file name. The command must be terminated with a semi-colon that must be escaped to protect it from interpretation by the shell.

## A word of caution

There are both security and performance implications which may be mitigated by using one of the variations `-exec command {} +`, `-execdir command` or `-execdir command {} +`.

Source: `man find`


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