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TEST

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: February 2026
Index Return to Main Contents

NAME

test - check file types and compare values

SYNOPSIS

test EXPRESSION
test
[ EXPRESSION ]
[ ]
[ OPTION

DESCRIPTION

Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test#tes-help'--helpX'tty: link': display this help and exit
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test#tes-version'--versionX'tty: link': output version information and exit

An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false. Otherwise, EXPRESSION is true or false and sets exit status. It is one of:

( EXPRESSION ): EXPRESSION is true
! EXPRESSION: EXPRESSION is false
EXPRESSION1 -a EXPRESSION2: both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true
EXPRESSION1 -o EXPRESSION2: either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-n'-n STRINGX'tty: link': the length of STRING is nonzero
STRING: equivalent to -n STRING
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-z'-z STRINGX'tty: link': the length of STRING is zero
STRING1 = STRING2: the strings are equal
STRING1 != STRING2: the strings are not equal
STRING1 > STRING2: STRING1 is greater than STRING2 in the current locale
STRING1 < STRING2: STRING1 is less than STRING2 in the current locale
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-eq'INTEGER1 -eq INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-ge'INTEGER1 -ge INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-gt'INTEGER1 -gt INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-le'INTEGER1 -le INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-lt'INTEGER1 -lt INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-ne'INTEGER1 -ne INTEGER2X'tty: link': INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-ef'FILE1 -ef FILE2X'tty: link': FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-nt'FILE1 -nt FILE2X'tty: link': FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-ot'FILE1 -ot FILE2X'tty: link': FILE1 is older than FILE2
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-b'-b FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is block special
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-c'-c FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is character special
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-d'-d FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a directory
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-e'-e FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-f'-f FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a regular file
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-g'-g FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is set-group-ID
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-G'-G FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-h'-h FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L)
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-k'-k FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and has its sticky bit set
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-L'-L FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -h)
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-N'-N FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and has been modified since it was last read
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-O'-O FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-p'-p FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a named pipe
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-r'-r FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and the user has read access
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-s'-s FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-S'-S FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and is a socket
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-t'-t FDX'tty: link': file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-u'-u FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-w'-w FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and the user has write access
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#tes-x'-x FILEX'tty: link': FILE exists and the user has execute (or search) access

Except for -h and -L, all FILE-related tests dereference symbolic links. Beware that parentheses need to be escaped (e.g., by backslashes) for shells. INTEGER may also be -l STRING, which evaluates to the length of STRING.

Binary -a and -o are ambiguous. Use 'test EXPR1 && test EXPR2' or 'test EXPR1 || test EXPR2' instead.

'[' honors --help and --version, but 'test' treats them as STRINGs.

Your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports.