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SHUF

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: February 2026
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shuf - generate random permutations

shuf [,OPTION/]... [,FILE/]
shuf ,-e /[,OPTION/]... [,ARG/]...
shuf ,-i L-HI /[,OPTION/]...

Write a random permutation of the input lines to standard output.

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

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-e'-e, --echoX'tty: link': treat each ARG as an input line
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-i'-i, --input-range=,LO-HIX'tty: link'/: treat each number LO through HI as an input line
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-n'-n, --head-count=,COUNTX'tty: link'/: output at most COUNT lines
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-o'-o, --output=,FILEX'tty: link'/: write result to FILE instead of standard output
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-rando-source'--random-source=FILEX'tty: link': get random bytes from FILE
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-r'-r, --repeatX'tty: link': output lines can be repeated
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#shu-z'-z, --zero-terminatedX'tty: link': line delimiter is NUL, not newline
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/shuf#shu-help'--helpX'tty: link': display this help and exit
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/shuf#shu-version'--versionX'tty: link': output version information and exit

Written by Paul Eggert.