NL(1)

📦
version 9.10 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💅 NL(1) — the number-lines-of-files manual, bestie edition

okay so this is the manual page for nl, which lives in section 1 (User Commands) of the man pages. she's a coreutils girlie and she's about to number your lines. let's go 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

nl — number lines of files 🔢

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

nl [OPTION]... [FILE]...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Write each FILE to standard output, with line numbers added. that's it, that's the whole gig. she takes your text, she puts numbers next to it, she serves. 💖

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input. (yes bestie the classic - means stdin, we love a flexible icon 🫶)

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. no cap — if it needs a value, it needs a value.

👑 the options, one by one

  • -b, --body-numbering=STYLE — use STYLE for numbering body lines
  • -d, --section-delimiter=CC — use CC for logical page delimiters
  • -f, --footer-numbering=STYLE — use STYLE for numbering footer lines
  • -h, --header-numbering=STYLE — use STYLE for numbering header lines
  • -i, --line-increment=NUMBER — line number increment at each line
  • -l, --join-blank-lines=NUMBER — group of NUMBER empty lines counted as one
  • -n, --number-format=FORMAT — insert line numbers according to FORMAT
  • -p, --no-renumber — do not reset line numbers for each section
  • -s, --number-separator=STRING — add STRING after (possible) line number
  • -v, --starting-line-number=NUMBER — first line number for each section
  • -w, --number-width=NUMBER — use NUMBER columns for line numbers
  • --help — display this help and exit
  • --version — output version information and exit

🍓 the defaults (aka her factory settings, iconic)

Default options are: -bt -d'\:' -fn -hn -i1 -l1 -n'rn' -s<TAB> -v1 -w6

💜 about CC (the section delimiter thing)

CC are two delimiter characters used to construct logical page delimiters; a missing second character implies :. As a GNU extension one can specify more than two characters, and also specifying the empty string (-d '') disables section matching. lowkey powerful, ngl 🌈

🧚 STYLE is one of:

  • a — number all lines
  • t — number only nonempty lines
  • n — number no lines
  • pBRE — number only lines that contain a match for the basic regular expression, BRE

⭐ FORMAT is one of:

  • ln — left justified, no leading zeros
  • rn — right justified, no leading zeros
  • rz — right justified, leading zeros

💖 AUTHOR 💖

Written by Scott Bartram and David MacKenzie. absolute legends, we stan 👑

🙈 REPORTING BUGS 🙈

(if something's broken, tell the devs, don't suffer in silence bestie 😭)

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

ngl this page also carries the packaging and license tea: Packaged by Ubuntu (9.10-1ubuntu2), Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc., License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. — fr fr, no warranty, read the fine print 💀

and that's the whole thing!! this page shipped with GNU coreutils 9.10, dated August 2026, and honestly? she ate. go number some lines, main character 💅✨🌈

📦 where this page comes from