CreateTextFileInTerminal

Create a text file in the terminal

This page was last updated on February 20, 2010.

Create an entire text file from within the terminal without using an editor!

Method 1

When using this method, press the Enter key to insert a blank line in the text.

• Type this command in a terminal window, replacing filename with the name of the file you’d like to save the text to:

cat > filename

• Example:
1. Type this command in a terminal window:

cat > readme.txt

Press the Enter key.

2. Type some content:

This is an example letter written in the terminal.

Press the Enter key.

3. Save the file by pressing the Ctrl and d keys at the same time.
4. View the file by typing this command:

cat readme.txt

Press the Enter key.

Inserting blank lines in the letter can be done by pressing the Enter key.

Method 2

• For a single line of content, type this command in a terminal window, replacing content with whatever you want inside the text file and filename with the name of the file you’d like to save it to:

echo "content" > filename

Press the Enter key.

• Example:
• This will create a text file named info.txt on the Desktop:

echo "This is a single line of content" > info.txt

• For multiple lines of content, add the -e argument to the command, and insert \n to start a new line or \n\n to insert a blank line in the text. Type this command in a terminal window, replacing content\nmorecontent with whatever you want inside the text file and filename with the name of the file you’d like to save it to:

echo -e "content\nmorecontent" > filename

Press the Enter key.

• Example:
• This will create a text file named info.txt on the Desktop:

echo -e "This is one line of content.\nThis is another line of content.\n\nThis is a final line of content after a blank line." > info.txt

Obligatory Happy Ending

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.