split(1) - man - phpman

Che Dong

⚡ TLDR: split (tldr-pages)

Split a file into pieces.

Split a file, each split having 10 lines (except the last split)
split {{-l|--lines}} 10 {{path/to/file}}
Split a file into 5 files. File is split such that each split has same size (except the last split)
split {{-n|--number}} 5 {{path/to/file}}
Split a file with 512 bytes in each split (except the last split; use 512k for kilobytes and 512m for megabytes)
split {{-b|--bytes}} 512 {{path/to/file}}
Split a file with at most 512 bytes in each split without breaking lines
split {{-C|--line-bytes}} 512 {{path/to/file}}
Split into multiple files from `stdin`
gzip {{-cd|--stdout --decompress}} {{path/to/compressed_file.gz}} | split {{-l|--lines}} {{1000}} - {{path/to/output}}

SPLIT(1)                                    User Commands                                   SPLIT(1)



NAME
       split - split a file into pieces

SYNOPSIS
       split [OPTION]... [FILE [PREFIX]]

DESCRIPTION
       Output  pieces  of  FILE  to PREFIXaa, PREFIXab, ...; default size is 1000 lines, and default
       PREFIX is 'x'.

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

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

       -a, --suffix-length=N
              generate suffixes of length N (default 2)

       --additional-suffix=SUFFIX
              append an additional SUFFIX to file names

       -b, --bytes=SIZE
              put SIZE bytes per output file

       -C, --line-bytes=SIZE
              put at most SIZE bytes of records per output file

       -d     use numeric suffixes starting at 0, not alphabetic

       --numeric-suffixes[=FROM]
              same as -d, but allow setting the start value

       -x     use hex suffixes starting at 0, not alphabetic

       --hex-suffixes[=FROM]
              same as -x, but allow setting the start value

       -e, --elide-empty-files
              do not generate empty output files with '-n'

       --filter=COMMAND
              write to shell COMMAND; file name is $FILE

       -l, --lines=NUMBER
              put NUMBER lines/records per output file

       -n, --number=CHUNKS
              generate CHUNKS output files; see explanation below

       -t, --separator=SEP
              use SEP instead of newline as the record separator;  '\0'  (zero)  specifies  the  NUL
              character

       -u, --unbuffered
              immediately copy input to output with '-n r/...'

       --verbose
              print a diagnostic just before each output file is opened

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       The  SIZE  argument  is  an  integer  and optional unit (example: 10K is 10*1024).  Units are
       K,M,G,T,P,E,Z,Y (powers of 1024) or KB,MB,... (powers of 1000).  Binary prefixes can be used,
       too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

   CHUNKS may be:
       N      split into N files based on size of input

       K/N    output Kth of N to stdout

       l/N    split into N files without splitting lines/records

       l/K/N  output Kth of N to stdout without splitting lines/records

       r/N    like 'l' but use round robin distribution

       r/K/N  likewise but only output Kth of N to stdout

AUTHOR
       Written by Torbjorn Granlund and Richard M. Stallman.

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  ©  2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
       <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY,  to
       the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/split>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) split invocation'



GNU coreutils 8.32                          January 2026                                    SPLIT(1)