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grep — Find patterns in files using `regex`es. See also: `regex`. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/so

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

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Problem

How to use the grep command: Find patterns in files using regexes. See also: regex. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/grep.html>.

Solution

grep — Find patterns in files using regexes. See also: regex. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/grep.html>.

Search for a pattern within files:

grep "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}

Search for an exact string (disables regexes):

grep {{[-F|--fixed-strings]}} "{{exact_string}}" {{path/to/file}}

Search for a pattern in all files recursively in a directory, ignoring binary files:

grep {{[-rI|--recursive --binary-files=without-match]}} "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/directory}}

Print 3 lines of [C]ontext around, [B]efore, or [A]fter each match:

grep {{--context|--before-context|--after-context}} 3 "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Print file name and line number for each match with color output:

grep {{[-Hn|--with-filename --line-number]}} --color=always "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Print only the matched text:

grep {{[-o|--only-matching]}} "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Read data from stdin and do not print lines that match a pattern:

cat {{path/to/file}} | grep {{[-v|--invert-match]}} "{{search_pattern}}"

Use extended regexes (supports ?, +, {}, (), and |), in case-insensitive mode:

grep {{[-Ei|--extended-regexp --ignore-case]}} "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Code Snippets

Search for a pattern within files

grep "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}

Search for an exact string (disables `regex`es)

grep {{[-F|--fixed-strings]}} "{{exact_string}}" {{path/to/file}}

Search for a pattern in all files recursively in a directory, ignoring binary files

grep {{[-rI|--recursive --binary-files=without-match]}} "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/directory}}

Print 3 lines of [C]ontext around, [B]efore, or [A]fter each match

grep {{--context|--before-context|--after-context}} 3 "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Print file name and line number for each match with color output

grep {{[-Hn|--with-filename --line-number]}} --color=always "{{search_pattern}}" {{path/to/file}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/grep

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