Linux Files Operation: wc (Word Count) Usage Examples

Using the wc Command in Linux

The wc command in Ubuntu stands for “word count”. It is a simple command-line utility used to display the number of lines, words, and bytes (or characters) in files. The basic syntax of the wc command is:

wc [options] [file...]

Here are the common options you can use with the wc command:

• wc without any options: Displays the number of lines, words, and bytes in each specified file, and a total line if more than one file is specified.

wc file.txt

• -l: Prints the number of lines in the file.

wc -l file.txt

• -w: Prints the number of words in the file.

wc -w file.txt

• -c: Prints the number of bytes in the file.

wc -c file.txt

• -m: Prints the number of characters in the file. This option takes into account multi-byte characters, whereas -c counts bytes.

wc -m file.txt

• -L: Prints the length of the longest line in the file.

wc -L file.txt

Examples

• Count only lines in a single file:

wc -l file.txt

• Count lines, words, and bytes in multiple files:

wc file1.txt file2.txt

Combining Options

You can combine different options to get specific counts in the same command:

# This command will output the number of lines and words in file.txt
wc -lw file.txt

Practical Use Cases

• Count lines in log files:

wc -l /var/log/syslog

• Count the number of files in a directory:

ls -1 | wc -l

• Count words in a text file:

wc -w document.txt

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