proc_uptime(5)

💖 proc_uptime(5) — the lil file that tells you how long your computer has been awake 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because today we're reading /proc/uptime, and it is genuinely one of the cutest, most low-maintenance files in all of /proc. no cap.

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✨ NAME ✨

/proc/uptime — system uptime 🌸

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

/proc/uptime

ok so this file is basically your system's sleep-tracker, except instead of steps it's seconds. it contains two numbers, and both of them are values in seconds:

• the uptime of the system — and yes, that includes the time spent in suspend, so if your laptop took a lil nap, that counts too 😴 (we love a system that counts its naps, honestly)
• the amount of time spent in the idle process — i.e. how many seconds the CPU was just vibing, doing absolutely nothing 🧘

that's it. that's the whole file. two numbers, both in seconds, no drama, no flags, no options, no environment variables, no exit statuses. it's giving minimalism and honestly? iconic. 👑

it's just a peek at /proc, bestie — it's a pseudo-file, so don't go looking for it on your actual disk. it lives in the kernel's head rent-free, iykyk. ✨

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• proc(5)

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🫶 and that's the whole page! this lil masterpiece came to you courtesy of Linux man-pages 6.20, dated 2026-02-08 — go forth and check your uptime, bestie, you're doing amazing sweetie 💅🎀