tail(1) - man - phpman

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⚡ TLDR: tail (tldr-pages)

Display the last part of a file.

Show last 10 lines in a file
tail {{path/to/file}}
Show last 10 lines of multiple files
tail {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}
Show last 5 lines in file
tail {{-5|--lines 5}} {{path/to/file}}
Print a file from a specific line number
tail {{-n|--lines}} +{{count}} {{path/to/file}}
Print a specific count of bytes from the end of a given file
tail {{-c|--bytes}} {{count}} {{path/to/file}}
Print the last lines of a given file and keep reading it until `<Ctrl c>`
tail {{-f|--follow}} {{path/to/file}}
Keep reading file until `<Ctrl c>`, even if the file is inaccessible
tail {{-F|--retry --follow}} {{path/to/file}}
Show last `count` lines in a file and refresh every `seconds` seconds
tail {{-n|--lines}} {{count}} {{-s|--sleep-interval}} {{seconds}} {{-f|--follow}} {{path/to/file}}

TAIL(1)                                     User Commands                                    TAIL(1)



NAME
       tail - output the last part of files

SYNOPSIS
       tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
       Print  the  last  10 lines of each FILE to standard output.  With more than one FILE, precede
       each with a header giving the file name.

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

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

       -c, --bytes=[+]NUM
              output the last NUM bytes; or use -c +NUM to output starting with  byte  NUM  of  each
              file

       -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
              output appended data as the file grows;

              an absent option argument means 'descriptor'

       -F     same as --follow=name --retry

       -n, --lines=[+]NUM
              output  the  last NUM lines, instead of the last 10; or use -n +NUM to output starting
              with line NUM

       --max-unchanged-stats=N
              with --follow=name, reopen a FILE which has not

              changed size after N (default 5) iterations to see if it has been unlinked or  renamed
              (this  is  the  usual  case of rotated log files); with inotify, this option is rarely
              useful

       --pid=PID
              with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies

       -q, --quiet, --silent
              never output headers giving file names

       --retry
              keep trying to open a file if it is inaccessible

       -s, --sleep-interval=N
              with -f, sleep for approximately N seconds (default 1.0) between iterations; with ino‐
              tify and --pid=P, check process P at least once every N seconds

       -v, --verbose
              always output headers giving file names

       -z, --zero-terminated
              line delimiter is NUL, not newline

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       NUM  may  have  a  multiplier  suffix:  b 512, kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000, M 1024*1024, GB
       1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.  Binary prefixes can be  used,
       too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

       With  --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor, which means that even if
       a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will continue to track its end.  This default behavior is not
       desirable  when you really want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descriptor
       (e.g., log rotation).  Use --follow=name in that case.  That causes tail to track  the  named
       file in a way that accommodates renaming, removal and creation.

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Meyering.

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
       head(1)

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



GNU coreutils 8.32                          January 2026                                     TAIL(1)