Create an empty file in Linux Command Line - BrandCrock (2024)

Create an empty file in Linux Command Line - BrandCrock (1)

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How to create an empty file from the bash shell or command line in Linux? Can you tell me the Linux command to create an empty file in Linux?

The empty file means files with zero bytes and in a plain text format. You can create an empty file from the command line using various methods.

  1. Use the touch command to create a blank file
  2. Use redirection with stdout
  3. Use echo command to create a empty file
  4. How to use printf to create a blank file

1. Use the touch command to create a blank file

The Linux touch command is used to create a file without any content. The file created using the touch command is empty with zero bytes. This command can be used when the user doesn’t have data to store at the time of file creation. Touch Linux command can also be used to change and modify the timestamps of a file.

Syntax:

touch filename

Example:

touch myfile.txt

2. Use redirection with stdout

We can redirect a command’s output (stdout) to a file for creating an empty file.

Syntax 1: (create)

command > output.txt

The standard output stream will be redirected to the file only, it will not be visible in the terminal. If the file already exists, it gets overwritten. If the file does not exist, it will create a file.

Example:

echo "first data 1" > myfile.txt

Syntax 2: (create and append)

command >> output.txt

The standard output stream will be redirected to the file only, it will not be visible in the terminal. If the file already exists, the new data will get appended to the end of the file. If the file does not exist, it will create a file.

Example:

echo "first data 2" >> myfile.txt

3. Use echo command to create a empty file

The echo Linux command writes its arguments to standard output, followed by a newline. If there are no arguments, only the new line is written.

Syntax:

echo -n > filename

Example:

echo -n > myfile.txt

4. How to use printf to create a blank file

Linux command printfprints aformatted stringto the standard output.

Syntax:

printf '' > filename

Example:

printf '' > myfile.txt
Create an empty file in Linux Command Line - BrandCrock (2024)

FAQs

Create an empty file in Linux Command Line - BrandCrock? ›

Use the touch command to create a blank file

How to create an empty file in Linux command-line? ›

Touch. The touch command creates a new blank file that you can then open by using a text editor to add or edit text. Type $ touch followed by the name of the file you want to create. To verify that you created the file successfully, type $ ls <name of your file> .

How to create a new file in Linux command-line? ›

How to Create a File in Linux Using Command Line
  1. touch Command. Access a terminal window and use the touch command to create a new text file called test.txt: touch test.txt. ...
  2. cat Command. ...
  3. echo Command. ...
  4. printf Command. ...
  5. Redirect Operator.
Jul 11, 2024

How do I create an empty log file in Linux? ›

How to create empty file in Linux using touch command
  1. Open a terminal window. Press CTRL + ALT + T on Linux to open the Terminal app.
  2. To create an empty file from command line in Linux: touch fileNameHere.
  3. Verify that file has been created with the ls -l fileNameHere on Linux.
Feb 21, 2022

Which command creates an empty file? ›

Use the touch command to create an empty file. If a file by the name you specify doesn't already exist, the touch command creates an empty file (if the file already exists, touch updates the last file access time).

How to create an empty file? ›

From within Windows, right-click in the area you want to create the file. For example, right-click the desktop to create a new text file on the desktop. In the drop-down menu, select New and choose Text Document.

What is the command to create empty file in CMD? ›

How To Create Empty File In CMD?
  1. Step 1: Launch the Command Prompt. First, open Command Prompt by searching for "Command Prompt" in the "Startup" menu.
  2. Step 2: Navigate to the Directory. ...
  3. Step 3: Using the "cd." command, create an empty file.
Jan 8, 2024

How to create a file in command prompt? ›

The steps required to create a new file on Windows using CMD are the following.
  1. Open Command Prompt on the device.
  2. Execute the command echo [Entire Text] > [File-Name].txt & press enter.
  3. The File will be directly saved into the directory.
Aug 16, 2024

How to create a new file? ›

How do I create a file on a computer? Right click anywhere on your desktop or inside an Explorer window, then highlight New. Select the new file type you want, and click it. If you want to create a new file of a type not included in this list, you'll have to create it from within the program you're using.

What are the two commands used to create a file in Linux terminal? ›

In this article, we will see three methods through which we can create files using the terminal. The three commands that we'll discuss are touch , cat and echo .

How do you create an empty folder in Linux? ›

To create a new folder, use the mkdir command followed by the desired folder name. Replace “YourFolderName” with whatever you'd like to name your folder.

How to find empty files in Linux command line? ›

How to Search All Empty Files. You can use the -empty flag in the find command to search for files and directories that are empty. This command will list all the empty directories in the current directory. The -empty flag can be appended with the -delete flag to delete all the empty files and folders.

How do I force a file to empty in Linux? ›

Using the cp Command with /dev/null :

By copying /dev/null to a file, you're essentially replacing the file's contents with the content of /dev/null (which is always empty), thereby clearing the file.

How do I create an empty file in Linux? ›

Use the touch command to create a blank file

The Linux touch command is used to create a file without any content. The file created using the touch command is empty with zero bytes.

How to create a file in Linux command? ›

The touch command is the most commonly used command for creating a new file in Linux. To create a new file in the current directory, you need to run the touch command followed by the name of the file. This will create a file with the file name abc.

Which command is use to create an empty file or file stamp? ›

Primary Functions of the `touch` Command:

Creating Empty Files**: Simply type touch filename , and an empty file with the specified name will be created in the current directory. 2. Updating Timestamps**: touch filename updates the access and modification times of an existing file to the current time.

How do I empty a file in Linux shell script? ›

1. Empty or delete the contents of a large file using the truncate command in the Linux/Unix system. The truncate command is used to shrink or extend the size of a file to a specified size in the Linux system. It is also used to empty large file contents by using the -s option followed by 0 (zero) specified size.

How to create a new file in command prompt? ›

The steps required to create a new file on Windows using CMD are the following.
  1. Open Command Prompt on the device.
  2. Execute the command echo [Entire Text] > [File-Name].txt & press enter.
  3. The File will be directly saved into the directory.
Aug 16, 2024

How do I create an empty zip file in Linux? ›

To create a ZIP file in Linux through the GUI, do the following:
  1. Open Files and navigate to the appropriate directory.
  2. Select the files for archiving, right-click the files, and choose Compress.
  3. Enter the archive name and choose the . zip format from the dropdown menu.
  4. Click Create to create the ZIP file.
Oct 31, 2022

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