NumberLinesInTextFile

Number lines in a text file

This page was last updated on February 09, 2010.

Here are two methods to number the lines in a text file. One doesn’t count blank lines and the other does. This is the source file used in the examples:

Contents of sourcefile

apples oranges

nl

• This command does not count blank lines. It uses the letter n and the letter L rather the letter n and the number 1.

nl sourcefile > destinationfile

• Example output:

Contents of destinationfile

1 apples 2 oranges

cat -n

• This command counts all lines, including blank lines.

cat -n sourcefile > destinationfile

• Example output:

Contents of destinationfile

1 apples 2 3 oranges

Obligatory Happy Ending

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.