head

head linux command cheatsheet by Thamizhiniyan C S

Introduction

The head command is used to output the first part of files.


Syntax

head [OPTION]... [FILE]...


Important Flags

FlagDescription

-n num

Prints the first ‘num’ lines instead of the first 10 lines.

-c num

Prints the first ‘num’ bytes from the file specified.

-q

Suppresses printing filenames when more than one file is given.

-v

Prints data from the specified file preceded by its filename.


Examples

CommandDescription

To print lines between 10 and 20 in file.txt.

Pipe the output of ls command to head to show only the three most recently modified files or folders.

Pipe the output of ls command to head and sort to display the three most recently used files or folders in alphabetical order.

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