SIZE(1)

📦
version 2.47 · 8 versions
, in arch rolling

💅 SIZE(1) — the GNU Development Tools girlies' guide to size 🎀

okay so you know how every binary file is secretly a stack of lil sections and you've never once known how big any of them are? yeah. that's literally what size is for, bestie, and it's giving main character energy. it lives in the GNU Development Tools family, and it's the tool you call when you need the ~vibe check~ on your objects. 💖

✨ NAME ✨

size — lists section sizes and the total size of binary files. that's it, that's the whole job, and she does it flawlessly. 👑

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

size [-A|-B|-G|--format=compatibility]
     [--help]
     [-d|-o|-x|--radix=number]
     [--common]
     [-t|--totals]
     [--target=bfdname] [-V|--version]
     [-f]
     [objfile...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so the GNU size utility lists the section sizes and the total size for every single one of the binary files objfile on its argument list. no skips, no shortcuts, she's thorough like that. 💁‍♀️

by default you get one line of output for each file — or for each module, if the file happens to be an archive. periodt.

objfile... are the files to be examined. and if you specify none? she'll just go ahead and use the file "a.out" instead. iconic default behavior honestly. 🫶

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

the command-line options have the following meanings, and yes, we're going through all of them, bestie, because we don't skip content in this house:

  • -A, -B, -G, --format=compatibility — using one of these options, you get to choose whether the output from GNU size resembles output from System V size (that's -A, or --format=sysv), or Berkeley size (that's -B, or --format=berkeley). the default is the one-line format similar to Berkeley's. ✨ alternatively, you can choose the GNU format output with -G, or --format=gnu — this one is similar to Berkeley's output format, but the sizes are counted differently. yes, differently. she contains multitudes.

here's an example of the Berkeley (default) format of output from size:

        $ size --format=Berkeley ranlib size
           text    data     bss     dec     hex filename
         294880   81920   11592  388392   5ed28 ranlib
         294880   81920   11888  388688   5ee50 size

so the Berkeley style output counts read only data in the "text" column, not in the "data" column, and the "dec" and "hex" columns both display the sum of the "text", "data", and "bss" columns in decimal and hexadecimal respectively. love that for them. 💅

the GNU format counts read only data in the "data" column, not the "text" column, and only displays the sum of the "text", "data", and "bss" columns once, in the "total" column. and the --radix option can be used to change the number base for all columns. here's the same data displayed with GNU conventions:

        $ size --format=GNU ranlib size
              text       data        bss      total filename
            279880      96920      11592     388392 ranlib
            279880      96920      11888     388688 size

and here's that same data, but displayed closer to System V conventions:

        $ size --format=SysV ranlib size
        ranlib  :
        section         size         addr
        .text         294880         8192
        .data          81920       303104
        .bss           11592       385024
        Total         388392

        size  :
        section         size         addr
        .text         294880         8192
        .data          81920       303104
        .bss           11888       385024
        Total         388688

three formats, three vibes, all correct. iykyk. 🌈

  • --help, -h, -H, -? — show a summary of acceptable arguments and options. your little cheat sheet, your safety net, your bestie holding your hand. 🎀
  • -d, -o, -x, --radix=number — using one of these options you control whether the size of each section is given in decimal (-d, or --radix=10); octal (-o, or --radix=8); or hexadecimal (-x, or --radix=16). and in --radix=number, only three values are supported: 8, 10, 16. that's the whole menu, no secret bonus numbers. 😭
heads up bestie: the total size is always given in two radices — decimal and hexadecimal for -d or -x output, or octal and hexadecimal if you're using -o. she's not gonna let you pick just one for the totals, and honestly? respect. 💀
  • --common — print total size of common symbols in each file. when using Berkeley or GNU format these are included in the bss size. so like, she's already counting them, this just puts them on main. 👀
  • -t, --totals — show totals of all objects listed (Berkeley or GNU format mode only, so don't come at her with SysV and expect totals, she will not). 🔥
  • --target=bfdname — specify that the object-code format for objfile is bfdname. this option may not be necessary; size can automatically recognize many formats. she's smart like that, ngl. ✨
  • -v, -V, --version — display the version number of size. drop the version, queen. 👑
  • -f — ignored. yeah, ignored. 😐 this option is used by other versions of the size program, but it is not supported by the GNU Binutils version. she sees it, she acknowledges it, she does nothing with it. boundaries.
  • @file — read command-line options from file. the options read are inserted in place of the original @file option. if file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not removed. 🙈

options in file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. and the file may itself contain additional @file options — any such options will be processed recursively. it's giving inception, it's giving nesting dolls, it's giving 🧚✨ recursion ✨🧚.

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

go give these queens a visit: ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for binutils. squad goals fr fr. 🫶

Copyright (c) 1991-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

no cap, that license text is the real deal — keep it, respect it, don't remix it. 💖

and that's the page bestie!! 🌸 this lil number is from binutils-2.47, dated 2026-07-30, and it's the SIZE(1) page — go forth and measure your sections, you absolute icon. 🎀💅✨

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