wc command is an abbreviation for word count and wc command is mainly used for counting purpose. It is used to count the number of characters, words, new lines, and bytes in a file or standard input. In this tutorial, you will learn about wc command in Linux/Unix and the uses of wc command with examples.

Syntax for wc command

wc [option] [file]

Here is the list of files and file content, which I am going to use in this tutorial. Contents of 1.txt and 2.txt are in words and contents of 3.txt are in integer.

wc command tutorial files

Uses of wc command with examples

To get help about wc command and find available options for wc command, use wc --help command.

wc --help

wc --help

Display current version

To display current installed version of wc command, use wc --version command.

wc --version

wc --version

Using wc command with single file

By default, wc command displays the number of new lines, words, and bytes in a file and filename respectively. To use wc command follow the syntax wc filename. Replace the filename with your existing filename or the existing filename with location.

wc filename

wc file1

wc 3.txt

Using wc command with multiple files

To use wc command with multiple files and display the number of new lines, words, and bytes in a file and filename of multiple file, follow the syntax wc file1 file2 ....

wc file1 file2 ...

wc command with multiple file

Display number of Bytes only

Use wc command with -c option to display only number of Bytes or Byte count in any file. Follow the following syntax to display only number of Bytes or Byte count in any file.

For single file

wc -c filename

For multiple files

wc -c file1 file2 ...

wc -c command with single file and multiple file

Display number of characters only

Use wc command with -m option to display only the number of characters or characters count in any file. Follow the following syntax to display only the number of characters or characters count in any file.

For single file

wc -m filename

For multiple files

wc -m file1 file2 ...

wc -m command with single file and multiple file

Alternatively, You can also follow the following syntax to display only the number of characters or characters count in any file.

For single file

wc --chars filename

For multiple files

wc --chars file1 file2

wc --chars with single file and multiple file

Display number of new lines only

Use wc command with -l option to display only the number of new lines or new lines count in any file. Follow the following syntax to display only the number of new lines or new lines count in any file.

For single file

wc -l filename

For multiple file

wc -l file1 file2 ...

wc -l with single file and multiple file

Display length of longest line only

Use wc command with -L option to display only the length of longest line in any file. Follow the following syntax to display only the length of longest line in any file.

For single file

wc -L filename

For multiple files

wc -L file1 file2 ...

wc -L with single file and multiple files

Display number of words only

Use wc command with -w option to display only number of words or words count in any file. Follow the following syntax to display only number of words or words count in any file.

For single file

wc -w filename

For multiple files

wc -w file1 file2 ...

wc -w with single file and multiple files

Alternatively, You can also follow the following syntax to display only the number of words or words count in any file.

For single file

wc --words file

For multiple files

wc --words file1 file2 ...


Linux command with examples

A


adduser  |  addgroup  |  alias  |  anacron  |  apt  |  aptitude  |  arp  |  at atq  |  atrm  |  awk


B


basename banner | batch |  bc  |  bg  |  bzip


C


cat cal  |  cd  |  chgrp  |  chown  |  cksum  |  chmod  |  clear  |  cmp  |  comm  |  cp


D


date  |  dd  |  df  |  diff  |  dir  |  dmidecode  |  du


E


echo  |  eject  |  env  |  exit  |  expr


F


factor  |  find  |  free


G


grep  |  groups  |  gunzip  |  gzip


H


head  |  history  |  hostname  |  hostnamectl  |  htop  |  hwclock  |  hwinfo


I


id  |  ifconfig  |  ionice  |  iostat  |  ip  |  iptables  |  iw  |  iwlist


J


K


kill  |  kmod


L


last  |  less  |  ln  |  locate  |  login  |  lp  |  ls  |  lshw  |  lscpu  |  lsof  |  lsusb


M


man  |  mdsum  |  mkdir  |  more|  mv


N


nano  |  nc  |  neofetch  |  netcat  |  netstat  |  nice  |  nmap  |  nproc


O


openssl


P


passwd  |  pidof  |  ping  |  pr  |  ps  |  pwd  |  pstree


Q


R


rdiff-backup  |  reboot  |  rename  |  rm  |  rmdir


S


scp  |  shred  |  shutdown  |  sleep  |  sort  |  split  |  ssh  |  stat  |  su  |  sudo  |  sum


T


tac  |  tail  |  talk  |  tar  |  tee  |  time  |  tree  |  top  |  touch  |  tr


U


unalias  |  uname  |  uniq  |  unzip  |  uptime  |  users


V


vim  |  vi


W


w  |  wall  |  watch  |  wc  |  wget  |  whatis  |  whereis  |  which  |  who  |  whoami


X


xargs


Y


yes  |  youtube-dl


Z


zcmp  |  zdiff  |  zip  |  zz

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