wc linux command

wc

wc [options] [files]

Print character, word, and line counts for each file. Print a total line for multiple files. If no files are given, read standard input. See other examples under ls and sort.

Options

-c, -bytes, --chars

Print character count only.

-l, --lines

Print line count only.

-w, --words

Print word count only.

--help

Print help message and then exit.

--version

Print the version number and then exit.

Examples

Count the number of users logged in:

Count the words in three essay files:

Count lines in the file named by variable $file (don't display filename):