How to use linux cut command

If we get a list of e-mails or items separated by commas or spaces we can use the command cut to read the content easily.

To start let’s create a file

With content:

Press ctrl+x to save.

The fake e-mail addresses are separated by comma and space, to list the content between comma you need to use the parameter -d (delimiter), type:

We can also show more fields you can also use the parameter ‘f, type:

Now let’s use the command to show the first 4 characters by bytes, 1 char = 1 byte:

The command cut allows us to display ranges of bytes, to display between the byte 2 and 7 type:

Now let’s create a document with words:

Press ctrl+x to save and close, to list

Let’s use the command cut to list the fifth character of each line:

Create a file called columns:

Now use cut to show the third field by typing:

As you see cut displays the content of the third column, we can display more than one column with a single order:

Let’s take a look at the /etc/passwd file and display it’s segments with cut.

We can display more than one column by adding more fields after the parameter ‘f:

The command above lists first and sixth columns separated by “:”, we see the user username and home directory.

I hope this tutorial was useful as an introduction to the command cut, for more information on this command type “man cut”, should you have any inquiry contact us opening a ticket support at LinuxHint Support. Keep following LinuxHint for more tips and updates on Linux.