Search Commands

sed Linux Command

Stream editor for filtering and transforming text (find/replace, insert, delete).

What does sed do?

Stream editor for filtering and transforming text (find/replace, insert, delete).

sed [options] 'command' file

sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt

How do I replace text with sed?

Use `sed 's/old/new/g' file` to replace all occurrences of 'old' with 'new'. The `g` flag replaces all matches per line.

How do I replace text in place?

Use `sed -i 's/old/new/g' file` to modify the file directly. Without `-i`, sed only prints the output.

How do I delete a specific line with sed?

Use `sed '5d' file` to delete line 5, or `sed '/pattern/d' file` to delete lines matching a pattern.

How do I insert text before a line?

Use `sed '3i\new line' file` to insert 'new line' before line 3. The `i` command inserts text.

How do I append text after a line?

Use `sed '3a\new line' file` to append 'new line' after line 3. The `a` command appends text.

How do I delete the last line with sed?

Use `sed '$d' file` to delete the last line. The `$` address refers to the last line of the file.

How do I view just a specific line with sed?

Use `sed -n '5p' file` to print only line 5. The `-n` suppresses default output, and `p` prints the specified line.

How do I use sed with regex?

Use `sed 's/[0-9]*/ /g' file` to work with regular expressions. Sed supports extended regex with `-E` flag.

Powerful text processing language for pattern scanning and data extraction.

Sorts lines of text files alphabetically or numerically.

Displays how a command name would be interpreted (alias, builtin, external, etc.).

Reports or filters out repeated lines in a sorted file.

Locates the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.

Extracts specific columns/fields from each line of a file.