`tail` Show the last lines of a file

Prints the end of a file, ten lines by default. It is the standard way to check the latest entries in a log, and it can keep running to show new lines as they are written.

Synopsis

tail [-F | -f | -r] [-qv] [-b number | -c number | -n number] [file ...]

Common options

Option or form	What it does
`-n number`	Show the last number lines instead of 10
`-n +number`	Start at line number and show everything from there to the end. tail -n +2 skips a header row
`-f`	Follow the file: wait and print new lines as they are added. Stop with Ctrl-C
`-F`	Like -f, but also notices if the file is renamed or replaced, as happens when logs rotate
`-c number`	Count in bytes instead of lines
`-q`	Do not print the ==> name <== header when given several files
`-r`	Show lines in reverse order, last line first. Available on macOS and BSD, not in GNU tail

Examples

Last 10 lines of a file

tail app.log

Last 3 lines

tail -n 3 notes.txt

Beta again
error: disk full
delta

Skip the header row of a CSV file

tail -n +2 data.csv

ana,red,7
bo,blue,3
cy,red,9
dee,blue,3

Find errors among the most recent log lines

tail -n 20 app.log | grep ERROR

2026-01-01 ERROR failed to open
2026-01-02 ERROR timeout

Watch a log as it grows

tail -f /var/log/system.log

Follow a log that gets rotated

tail -F /var/log/nginx/access.log

Notes

tail -f never exits on its own. Press Ctrl-C to stop it. This is why the example is not run automatically.
Prefer -F over -f for logs that rotate. With -f, tail keeps reading the old file after it is renamed and shows nothing new.
A plain number sets how far from the end to start. A leading plus sign changes the meaning to how far from the start: -n 5 is the last five lines, -n +5 is everything from line 5.
-r exists on macOS and BSD but not on GNU/Linux. On Linux, use tac to reverse a file. The macOS man page also lists -b (512-byte blocks), which GNU tail does not have.
With several files, tail prints a header with each file name. Use -q to hide it.

tail Show the last lines of a file

Synopsis

Common options

Examples

Notes

See also

`tail` Show the last lines of a file