{
"content": [
{
"type": "text",
"text": "# wc (man)\n\n## NAME\n\nwc - print newline, word, and byte counts for each file\n\n## SYNOPSIS\n\nwc [OPTION]... [FILE]...\nwc [OPTION]... --files0-from=F\n\n## DESCRIPTION\n\nPrint newline, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line if more than one FILE is\nspecified. A word is a non-zero-length sequence of characters delimited by white space.\n\n## TLDR\n\n> Count lines, words, and bytes.\n\n- Count all lines in a file:\n `wc {{-l|--lines}} {{path/to/file}}`\n- Count all words in a file:\n `wc {{-w|--words}} {{path/to/file}}`\n- Count all bytes in a file:\n `wc {{-c|--bytes}} {{path/to/file}}`\n- Count all characters in a file (taking multi-byte characters into account):\n `wc {{-m|--chars}} {{path/to/file}}`\n- Count all lines, words, and bytes from `stdin`:\n `{{find .}} | wc`\n- Count the length of the longest line in number of characters:\n `wc {{-L|--max-line-length}} {{path/to/file}}`\n\n*Source: tldr-pages*\n\n## Sections\n\n- **NAME**\n- **SYNOPSIS**\n- **DESCRIPTION** (6 subsections)\n- **AUTHOR**\n- **REPORTING BUGS**\n- **COPYRIGHT**\n- **SEE ALSO**\n\nUse structuredContent.sections for detailed options, examples, and full documentation.\n"
}
],
"structuredContent": {
"command": "wc",
"section": "",
"mode": "man",
"summary": "wc - print newline, word, and byte counts for each file",
"synopsis": "wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...\nwc [OPTION]... --files0-from=F",
"tldr_summary": "Count lines, words, and bytes.",
"tldr_examples": [
{
"description": "Count all lines in a file",
"command": "wc {{-l|--lines}} {{path/to/file}}"
},
{
"description": "Count all words in a file",
"command": "wc {{-w|--words}} {{path/to/file}}"
},
{
"description": "Count all bytes in a file",
"command": "wc {{-c|--bytes}} {{path/to/file}}"
},
{
"description": "Count all characters in a file (taking multi-byte characters into account)",
"command": "wc {{-m|--chars}} {{path/to/file}}"
},
{
"description": "Count all lines, words, and bytes from `stdin`",
"command": "{{find .}} | wc"
},
{
"description": "Count the length of the longest line in number of characters",
"command": "wc {{-L|--max-line-length}} {{path/to/file}}"
}
],
"tldr_source": "official",
"flags": [
{
"flag": "-c",
"long": "--bytes",
"arg": null,
"description": "print the byte counts"
},
{
"flag": "-m",
"long": "--chars",
"arg": null,
"description": "print the character counts"
},
{
"flag": "-l",
"long": "--lines",
"arg": null,
"description": "print the newline counts --files0-from=F read input from the files specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then read names from standard input"
},
{
"flag": "-L",
"long": "--max-line-length",
"arg": null,
"description": "print the maximum display width"
},
{
"flag": "-w",
"long": "--words",
"arg": null,
"description": "print the word counts --help display this help and exit"
},
{
"flag": "",
"long": "--version",
"arg": null,
"description": "output version information and exit"
}
],
"examples": [],
"see_also": [],
"section_outline": [
{
"name": "NAME",
"lines": 2,
"subsections": []
},
{
"name": "SYNOPSIS",
"lines": 3,
"subsections": []
},
{
"name": "DESCRIPTION",
"lines": 8,
"subsections": [
{
"name": "-c --bytes",
"lines": 2,
"flag": "-c",
"long": "--bytes"
},
{
"name": "-m --chars",
"lines": 2,
"flag": "-m",
"long": "--chars"
},
{
"name": "-l --lines",
"lines": 6,
"flag": "-l",
"long": "--lines"
},
{
"name": "-L --max-line-length",
"lines": 2,
"flag": "-L",
"long": "--max-line-length"
},
{
"name": "-w --words",
"lines": 4,
"flag": "-w",
"long": "--words"
},
{
"name": "--version",
"lines": 2,
"long": "--version"
}
]
},
{
"name": "AUTHOR",
"lines": 2,
"subsections": []
},
{
"name": "REPORTING BUGS",
"lines": 3,
"subsections": []
},
{
"name": "COPYRIGHT",
"lines": 5,
"subsections": []
},
{
"name": "SEE ALSO",
"lines": 6,
"subsections": []
}
],
"sections": {
"NAME": {
"content": "wc - print newline, word, and byte counts for each file\n",
"subsections": []
},
"SYNOPSIS": {
"content": "wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...\nwc [OPTION]... --files0-from=F\n",
"subsections": []
},
"DESCRIPTION": {
"content": "Print newline, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line if more than one FILE is\nspecified. A word is a non-zero-length sequence of characters delimited by white space.\n\nWith no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.\n\nThe options below may be used to select which counts are printed, always in the following or‐\nder: newline, word, character, byte, maximum line length.\n",
"subsections": [
{
"name": "-c --bytes",
"content": "print the byte counts\n",
"flag": "-c",
"long": "--bytes"
},
{
"name": "-m --chars",
"content": "print the character counts\n",
"flag": "-m",
"long": "--chars"
},
{
"name": "-l --lines",
"content": "print the newline counts\n\n--files0-from=F\nread input from the files specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then\nread names from standard input\n",
"flag": "-l",
"long": "--lines"
},
{
"name": "-L --max-line-length",
"content": "print the maximum display width\n",
"flag": "-L",
"long": "--max-line-length"
},
{
"name": "-w --words",
"content": "print the word counts\n\n--help display this help and exit\n",
"flag": "-w",
"long": "--words"
},
{
"name": "--version",
"content": "output version information and exit\n",
"long": "--version"
}
]
},
"AUTHOR": {
"content": "Written by Paul Rubin and David MacKenzie.\n",
"subsections": []
},
"REPORTING BUGS": {
"content": "GNU coreutils online help: \nReport any translation bugs to \n",
"subsections": []
},
"COPYRIGHT": {
"content": "Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later\n.\nThis is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to\nthe extent permitted by law.\n",
"subsections": []
},
"SEE ALSO": {
"content": "Full documentation \nor available locally via: info '(coreutils) wc invocation'\n\n\n\nGNU coreutils 8.32 January 2026 WC(1)",
"subsections": []
}
}
}
}