SIZE(1)

📦 version 2.47, in arch rolling

💅 size(1) — GNU Development Tools

okay bestie, welcome to size — the manual page, the myth, the legend. this is the GNU Development Tools version, and it's genuinely so useful, i promise.

🌸 NAME 🌸

size — it lists section sizes and the total size of binary files. that's it, that's the whole vibe. it looks at your binaries and tells you how much space each section is eating. iconic behavior honestly.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

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

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so like, 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. every one. no skipping.

by default you get one line of output per file — or per module, if the file happens to be an archive. cute and tidy.

objfile... are the files to be examined, obviously. and if you don't specify any? it'll just go ahead and use the file a.out instead. default behavior, we love her.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

the command-line options have the following meanings, bestie — read them all, there's lore here:

  • -A, -B, -G, --format=compatibility — with one of these you get to pick whether the output from GNU size looks like 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 pick GNU format output (-G, or --format=gnu) — that one's similar to Berkeley's output format, but the sizes are counted differently. details below 👇
  • --help, -h, -H, -? — shows a summary of acceptable arguments and options. when in doubt, ask for help, that's the rule.
  • -d, -o, -x, --radix=number — these let you control whether the size of each section comes out in decimal (-d, or --radix=10), octal (-o, or --radix=8), or hexadecimal (-x, or --radix=16). in --radix=number, only those three values — 8, 10, 16 — are supported, so don't try to be creative. also lol, 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.
  • --common — prints the total size of common symbols in each file. when you're using Berkeley or GNU format, these are included in the bss size, just so you know.
  • -t, --totals — shows totals of all objects listed. only works in Berkeley or GNU format mode though, so mind that.
  • --target=bfdname — specifies that the object-code format for objfile is bfdname. honestly you might not even need this one; size can automatically recognize many formats on its own. she's smart like that.
  • -v, -V, --version — displays the version number of size. simple, effective.
  • -f — ignored. bestie it does nothing. other versions of the size program use this option, but the GNU Binutils version does not support it. so yeah, it's just kind of... there. 💀
  • @file — reads command-line options from file. the options that get read are inserted in place of the original @file option. and if file doesn't exist, or can't be read? then the option is treated literally and not removed. no cap.

options inside file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character can be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) can be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. and plot twist: the file may itself contain additional @file options — any such options get processed recursively. it's giving inception 🌀

🦋 the formats, explained (with receipts) 🦋

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.

meanwhile 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. the --radix option can be used to change the number base for all columns. here's that 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 again, 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

look at her go. three formats, one legend. 👑

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for binutils. go read them, they're all friends of hers.

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".

fr fr that's the legal bit, don't skip it, respect the license bestie 🫶

okay that's the whole page!! this absolute icon comes to you courtesy of binutils-2.47, dated 2026-08-26 — SIZE(1) forever, periodt. 🎀💜✨

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