`tail` command

Show the last lines of a file, or follow it as it grows.

Text processing
Package coreutils
6 options · 7 examples

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Syntax
Common options
Examples
Guides
Related commands

Syntax

tail [options] [file…]

Provided by the coreutils package. Run man tail for the full manual.

Common options

Option	What it does
`-n N`	Show the last N lines (default 10)
`-n +N`	Start from line N
`-f`	Follow: keep printing new lines
`-F`	Follow by name; survives log rotation
`-c N`	Show the last N bytes
`--pid=PID`	Stop following when PID exits

Examples

Last 10 lines
```
tail /var/log/syslog
```
Last 50 lines
```
tail -n 50 app.log
```
Follow a log live
```
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
```
Follow through log rotation
```
tail -F /var/log/app.log
```
Follow and filter
```
tail -f access.log | grep 404
```
Skip the header line of a CSV
```
tail -n +2 data.csv
```
Follow several files
```
tail -f /var/log/nginx/*.log
```

tail guides

tail Command in Linux with Examples Linux Commands · Updated Apr 2025

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