Cutting sections of text files (cut command)

Edit online

Use the cut command to write selected bytes, characters, or fields from each line of a file to standard output.

See the following examples:
  • To display several fields of each line of a file, type the following: 
    cut -f1,5 -d: /etc/passwd
    This displays the login name and full user name fields of the system password file. These are the first and fifth fields (-f1,5) separated by colons (-d:).
  • If the /etc/passwd file looks like this: 
    su:*:0:0:User with special privileges:/:/usr/bin/sh
daemon:*:1:1::/etc:
bin:*:2:2::/usr/bin:
sys:*:3:3::/usr/src:
adm:*:4:4:system administrator:/var/adm:/usr/bin/sh
pierre:*:200:200:Pierre Harper:/home/pierre:/usr/bin/sh
joan:*:202:200:Joan Brown:/home/joan:/usr/bin/sh
    the cut command produces: 
    su:User with special privileges
daemon:
bin:
sys:
adm:system administrator
pierre:Pierre Harper
joan:Joan Brown