snippetbashTip

cut — Cut out fields from `stdin` or files. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manu

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

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commandcutfromclifieldsstdinout

Problem

How to use the cut command: Cut out fields from stdin or files. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/cut-invocation.html>.

Solution

cut — Cut out fields from stdin or files. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/cut-invocation.html>.

Print the fifth character on each line:

{{command}} | cut {{[-c|--characters]}} 5

Print the fifth to tenth character of each line of the specified file:

cut {{[-c|--characters]}} 5-10 {{path/to/file}}

Split each line in a file by a delimiter into fields and print fields two and six (default delimiter is TAB):

cut {{[-f|--fields]}} 2,6 {{path/to/file}}

Split each line by the specified delimiter and print all from the second field onward:

{{command}} | cut {{[-d|--delimiter]}} "{{delimiter}}" {{[-f|--fields]}} 2-

Use space as a delimiter and print only the first 3 fields:

{{command}} | cut {{[-d|--delimiter]}} " " {{[-f|--fields]}} -3

Only print lines that contain the delimiter:

{{command}} | cut {{[-d|--delimiter]}} "{{:}}" {{[-f|--fields]}} {{1}} {{[-s|--only-delimited]}}

Print specific fields of lines that use NUL to terminate lines instead of newlines:

{{find . -print0}} | cut {{[-z|--zero-terminated]}} {{[-d|--delimiter]}} "{{/}}" {{[-f|--fields]}} {{2}}

Code Snippets

Print the fifth character on each line

{{command}} | cut {{[-c|--characters]}} 5

Print the fifth to tenth character of each line of the specified file

cut {{[-c|--characters]}} 5-10 {{path/to/file}}

Split each line in a file by a delimiter into fields and print fields two and six (default delimiter is `TAB`)

cut {{[-f|--fields]}} 2,6 {{path/to/file}}

Split each line by the specified delimiter and print all from the second field onward

{{command}} | cut {{[-d|--delimiter]}} "{{delimiter}}" {{[-f|--fields]}} 2-

Use space as a delimiter and print only the first 3 fields

{{command}} | cut {{[-d|--delimiter]}} " " {{[-f|--fields]}} -3

Context

tldr-pages: common/cut

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