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nl — Number lines from a file or from `stdin`. More information: <https://manned.org/nl.1p>.

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

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linescommandfromclifilenumbernl

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How to use the nl command: Number lines from a file or from stdin. More information: <https://manned.org/nl.1p>.

nl — Number lines from a file or from stdin. More information: <https://manned.org/nl.1p>.

Number non-blank lines in a file:

nl {{path/to/file}}

Read from stdin:

{{command}} | nl -

Number [a]ll [b]ody lines including blank lines or do [n]ot number [b]ody lines:

nl -b {{a|n}} {{path/to/file}}

Number only the [b]ody lines that match a basic regex (BRE) [p]attern:

nl -b p'FooBar[0-9]' {{path/to/file}}

Use a specific [i]ncrement for line numbering:

nl -i {{increment}} {{path/to/file}}

Specify the line numbering format to [r]ight or [l]eft justified, keeping leading [z]eros or [n]ot:

nl -n {{rz|ln|rn}}

Specify the line numbering's [w]idth (6 by default):

nl -w {{col_width}} {{path/to/file}}

Use a specific string to [s]eparate the line numbers from the lines (TAB by default):

nl -s {{separator}} {{path/to/file}}

Number non-blank lines in a file

nl {{path/to/file}}

Read from `stdin`

{{command}} | nl -

Number [a]ll [b]ody lines including blank lines or do [n]ot number [b]ody lines

nl -b {{a|n}} {{path/to/file}}

Number only the [b]ody lines that match a basic `regex` (BRE) [p]attern

nl -b p'FooBar[0-9]' {{path/to/file}}

Use a specific [i]ncrement for line numbering

nl -i {{increment}} {{path/to/file}}

tldr-pages: common/nl

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