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CAT

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: February 2026
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NAME

cat - concatenate files and print on the standard output

SYNOPSIS

cat [,OPTION/]... [,FILE/]...

DESCRIPTION

Concatenate FILE(s) to standard output.

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-A'-A, --show-allX'tty: link': equivalent to -vET
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-b'-b, --number-nonblankX'tty: link': number nonempty output lines, overrides -n
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-e'-eX'tty: link': equivalent to -vE
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-E'-E, --show-endsX'tty: link': display $ or ^M$ at end of each line
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-n'-n, --numberX'tty: link': number all output lines
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-s'-s, --squeeze-blankX'tty: link': suppress repeated empty output lines
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-t'-tX'tty: link': equivalent to -vT
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-T'-T, --show-tabsX'tty: link': display TAB characters as ^I
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-u'-uX'tty: link': (ignored)
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#ca-v'-v, --show-nonprintingX'tty: link': use ^ and M- notation, except for LFD and TAB
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/cat#ca-help'--helpX'tty: link': display this help and exit
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/cat#ca-version'--versionX'tty: link': output version information and exit

EXAMPLES

cat f - g: Output f's contents, then standard input, then g's contents.
cat: Copy standard input to standard output.

AUTHOR

Written by Torbjorn Granlund and Richard M. Stallman.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org

Report Gentoo bugs to: https://bugs.gentoo.org/
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
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