Bash head Command - Display the beginning of a file

The head command is used to display the first part of files.

It's particularly useful for previewing the start of a file to understand its structure.

All examples below use the logfile.txt file:

The head command displays the first 10 lines of a file by default:

The head command has several options used to customize its behavior:

• -n [number] : Display the first [number] lines of the file.
• -c [number] : Display the first [number] bytes of the file.

The -n option allows you to specify the number of lines to display from the start of the file. By default, head shows the first 10 lines.

The -c option allows you to display the first [number] bytes of a file instead of lines.

The head command can be used to display the beginning of multiple files. By default, it prints the file name as a header before the content of each file.

The -q option suppresses the printing of headers when multiple files are being processed. This is useful when you want to view the contents of multiple files without the file names being printed.

The head command is commonly used to:

• Preview the start of a file to understand its structure.
• Quickly check the contents of a file without opening it fully.
• Extract the header information from a data file.