snippetbashTip

tail — Display the last part of a file. See also: `head`. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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thecommandtailclilastfilepartdisplay

macos

Problem

How to use the tail command: Display the last part of a file. See also: head. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/tail.1.html>.

Solution

tail — Display the last part of a file. See also: head. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/tail.1.html>.

Show last 8 lines in file:

tail -n 8 {{path/to/file}}

Print a file from a specific line number:

tail -n +{{8}} {{path/to/file}}

Print a specific count of bytes from the end of a given file:

tail -c {{8}} {{path/to/file}}

Print the last lines of a given file and keep reading it until <Ctrl c>:

tail -f {{path/to/file}}

Keep reading file until <Ctrl c>, even if the file is inaccessible:

tail -F {{path/to/file}}

Show last count lines in a file and refresh every seconds seconds:

tail -n {{count}} -s {{seconds}} -f {{path/to/file}}

Code Snippets

Show last 8 lines in file

tail -n 8 {{path/to/file}}

Print a file from a specific line number

tail -n +{{8}} {{path/to/file}}

Print a specific count of bytes from the end of a given file

tail -c {{8}} {{path/to/file}}

Print the last lines of a given file and keep reading it until `<Ctrl c>`

tail -f {{path/to/file}}

Keep reading file until `<Ctrl c>`, even if the file is inaccessible

tail -F {{path/to/file}}

Context

tldr-pages: osx/tail

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