Text Processing commands

PowerShell Format-Hex→hexdump -C file Binary/Text Canonical hex dump Shows offsets, hex bytes and printable text. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu hexdump -C file Fedora hexdump -C file Arch hexdump -C file Open full guide → hexdump in PowerShell Format-Hex→xxd file Binary/Text Hex dump a file Displays binary files as hexadecimal bytes. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu xxd file Fedora xxd file Arch xxd file Open full guide → strings.exe→strings file Binary/Text Extract printable strings Prints readable strings from binary files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu strings file Fedora strings file Arch strings file Open full guide → PowerShell ConvertFrom-Csv→mlr --icsv cat file.csv CSV/Structured Data Read CSV records Processes CSV as structured records with Miller when installed. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu mlr --icsv cat file.csv Fedora mlr --icsv cat file.csv Arch mlr --icsv cat file.csv Open full guide → PowerShell Export-Csv→mlr --ocsv cat > file.csv CSV/Structured Data Write CSV records Writes structured records as CSV with Miller when installed. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu mlr --ocsv cat > file.csv Fedora mlr --ocsv cat > file.csv Arch mlr --ocsv cat > file.csv Open full guide → certutil -decode→base64 -d file.b64 Encoding Base64 decode a file Decodes base64 text back to binary data. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu base64 -d file.b64 Fedora base64 -d file.b64 Arch base64 -d file.b64 Open full guide → certutil -encode→base64 file Encoding Base64 encode a file Encodes binary data as base64 text. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu base64 file Fedora base64 file Arch base64 file Open full guide → PowerShell ForEach-Object split→cut -d: -f1 Fields Cut delimited fields Extracts fields from delimiter-separated lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu cut -d: -f1 Fedora cut -d: -f1 Arch cut -d: -f1 Open full guide → PowerShell Select-Object property→awk "{print $1}" Fields Select fields Prints selected fields from structured text. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu awk "{print $1}" Fedora awk "{print $1}" Arch awk "{print $1}" Open full guide → join files→join file1 file2 Fields Join sorted files Joins lines from two sorted files on a common field. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu join file1 file2 Fedora join file1 file2 Arch join file1 file2 Open full guide → paste files→paste file1 file2 Fields Merge lines side by side Combines corresponding lines from multiple files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu paste file1 file2 Fedora paste file1 file2 Arch paste file1 file2 Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Random lines→shuf file Files Shuffle lines Randomizes the order of lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu shuf file Fedora shuf file Arch shuf file Open full guide → expand tabs→expand -t 4 file Files Convert tabs to spaces Expands tab characters into spaces. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu expand -t 4 file Fedora expand -t 4 file Arch expand -t 4 file Open full guide → fold long lines→fold -w 80 file Files Wrap long lines Wraps long text lines to a target width. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu fold -w 80 file Fedora fold -w 80 file Arch fold -w 80 file Open full guide → nl file→nl -ba file Files Number lines Adds line numbers to file output. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu nl -ba file Fedora nl -ba file Arch nl -ba file Open full guide → split large file→split -b 100M file part_ Files Split a large file Splits a file into fixed-size chunks. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu split -b 100M file part_ Fedora split -b 100M file part_ Arch split -b 100M file part_ Open full guide → unexpand spaces→unexpand -t 4 file Files Convert spaces to tabs Converts leading spaces back into tabs. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu unexpand -t 4 file Fedora unexpand -t 4 file Arch unexpand -t 4 file Open full guide → PowerShell ConvertFrom-Json object field→jq ".field" file.json JSON Read JSON field Extracts a field from JSON. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu jq ".field" file.json Fedora jq ".field" file.json Arch jq ".field" file.json Open full guide → PowerShell ConvertTo-Json compact→jq -c . file.json JSON Compact JSON Prints compact one-line JSON. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu jq -c . file.json Fedora jq -c . file.json Arch jq -c . file.json Open full guide → PowerShell -replace→sed "s/old/new/g" file PowerShell Text Replace text with regex Performs stream text substitution. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sed "s/old/new/g" file Fedora sed "s/old/new/g" file Arch sed "s/old/new/g" file Open full guide → PowerShell Format-Table→column -t PowerShell Text Align tabular text Formats delimited text into aligned columns. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu column -t Fedora column -t Arch column -t Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Content -Head→head -n 20 file PowerShell Text Show first lines Prints the beginning of a file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu head -n 20 file Fedora head -n 20 file Arch head -n 20 file Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Content -Tail→tail -n 20 file PowerShell Text Show last lines Prints the end of a file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tail -n 20 file Fedora tail -n 20 file Arch tail -n 20 file Open full guide → PowerShell Group-Object→sort | uniq -c PowerShell Text Group and count records Groups identical lines and counts occurrences. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort | uniq -c Fedora sort | uniq -c Arch sort | uniq -c Open full guide → PowerShell Out-GridView→fzf PowerShell Text Interactive filtering Uses fuzzy finder for interactive terminal filtering. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu fzf Fedora fzf Arch fzf Open full guide → PowerShell Out-String→cat PowerShell Text Emit text stream Passes file or command text through stdout. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu cat Fedora cat Arch cat Open full guide → PowerShell Select-Object -First→head -n 10 PowerShell Text Keep first records Limits pipeline output to the first records. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu head -n 10 Fedora head -n 10 Arch head -n 10 Open full guide → PowerShell Select-Object -Last→tail -n 10 PowerShell Text Keep last records Limits pipeline output to the last records. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tail -n 10 Fedora tail -n 10 Arch tail -n 10 Open full guide → PowerShell Select-Object -Unique→sort -u PowerShell Text Keep unique records Sorts and removes duplicate lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort -u Fedora sort -u Arch sort -u Open full guide → Select-String -NotMatch→grep -v "pattern" file PowerShell Text Invert text search Prints lines that do not match a pattern. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -v "pattern" file Fedora grep -v "pattern" file Arch grep -v "pattern" file Open full guide → dir /od (sort by date)→find . -mtime -1 Search Find recently modified files Locates files modified within a specific time window. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find . -mtime -1 Fedora find . -mtime -1 Arch find . -mtime -1 Open full guide → dir /s /b (recursive list)→find . -type f Search List all files recursively Recursively lists every file in a directory tree, one per line — no directories, just files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find . -type f Fedora find . -type f Arch find . -type f Open full guide → find→find Search Search for files and directories Searches for files matching given criteria anywhere in the filesystem. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu find Fedora find Arch find Open full guide → findstr→grep Search Search text within files Searches for text patterns inside files. One of the most-used Linux commands. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep Fedora grep Arch grep Open full guide → findstr /b→grep "^pattern" file Search Match beginning of line Uses a regex anchor to match the start of lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep "^pattern" file Fedora grep "^pattern" file Arch grep "^pattern" file Open full guide → findstr /c→grep -F "literal text" file Search Search literal string Searches fixed text instead of regex syntax. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -F "literal text" file Fedora grep -F "literal text" file Arch grep -F "literal text" file Open full guide → findstr /e→grep "pattern$" file Search Match end of line Uses a regex anchor to match line endings. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep "pattern$" file Fedora grep "pattern$" file Arch grep "pattern$" file Open full guide → findstr /i→grep -i "pattern" file Search Case-insensitive search Matches text without case sensitivity. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -i "pattern" file Fedora grep -i "pattern" file Arch grep -i "pattern" file Open full guide → findstr /n→grep -n "pattern" file Search Show matching line numbers Prints line numbers beside matches. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -n "pattern" file Fedora grep -n "pattern" file Arch grep -n "pattern" file Open full guide → findstr /r (regex)→grep -E Search Search using extended regular expressions Searches text using extended regular expressions for complex pattern matching. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -E Fedora grep -E Arch grep -E Open full guide → findstr /s→grep -R "pattern" path/ Search Search recursively Searches files under a directory tree. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu grep -R "pattern" path/ Fedora grep -R "pattern" path/ Arch grep -R "pattern" path/ Open full guide → Get-Unique→uniq Sort/Compare Remove adjacent duplicates Filters repeated neighboring lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu uniq Fedora uniq Arch uniq Open full guide → PowerShell Compare-Object -IncludeEqual→comm file1 file2 Sort/Compare Compare sorted files Compares sorted files and can show common lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu comm file1 file2 Fedora comm file1 file2 Arch comm file1 file2 Open full guide → fc /n→diff -u file1 file2 Sort/Compare Compare text with context Shows unified differences between text files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu diff -u file1 file2 Fedora diff -u file1 file2 Arch diff -u file1 file2 Open full guide → sort /+N→sort -k N file Sort/Compare Sort by field Sorts text using a field key. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort -k N file Fedora sort -k N file Arch sort -k N file Open full guide → sort /r→sort -r file Sort/Compare Reverse sort Sorts lines in reverse order. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort -r file Fedora sort -r file Arch sort -r file Open full guide → clip / clip.exe→xclip / xsel Text Processing Copy output to clipboard Pipes command output directly into the clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu xclip / xsel Fedora xclip / xsel Arch xclip / xsel Open full guide → fc→diff Text Processing Compare two files Compares two files and shows the differences between them line by line. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu diff Fedora diff Arch diff Open full guide → findstr (character replace — n/a)→tr Text Processing Translate or delete characters Replaces, deletes, or squeezes individual characters in text — a character-level find and replace. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tr Fedora tr Arch tr Open full guide → findstr /v (invert)→tac Text Processing Print file in reverse line order Outputs a file with lines in reverse order — last line first. The name is 'cat' backwards. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tac Fedora tac Arch tac Open full guide → for /f (field parsing)→cut Text Processing Extract columns or fields from text Cuts out sections of each line — by delimiter-separated field number or character position. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu cut Fedora cut Arch cut Open full guide → sort→sort Text Processing Sort lines of text Sorts the lines of a text file or input alphabetically, numerically, or by other criteria. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort Fedora sort Arch sort Open full guide → sort /unique→sort | uniq Text Processing Filter duplicate adjacent lines Removes or counts duplicate lines. Must be used after sorting — it only removes adjacent duplicates. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sort | uniq Fedora sort | uniq Arch sort | uniq Open full guide → type (awk — no equiv)→awk Text Processing Process and extract columns from structured text A powerful text-processing tool that splits lines into fields and lets you extract, transform, and report on structured text. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu awk Fedora awk Arch awk Open full guide → type (end of file / logs)→tail Text Processing Display the last lines of a file Shows the last N lines of a file. With -f, follows the file in real-time — essential for watching logs. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tail Fedora tail Arch tail Open full guide → type (first lines)→head Text Processing Display the first lines of a file Shows only the first N lines of a file — useful for quickly previewing large files. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu head Fedora head Arch head Open full guide → type file | clip (base64 — no equiv)→base64 Text Processing Encode or decode Base64 Converts binary data to Base64 text encoding and back. Common in APIs, certificates, and email attachments. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu base64 Fedora base64 Arch base64 Open full guide → wc (word count — no Windows equiv)→wc Text Processing Count words, lines, characters Counts lines, words, and characters in a file or piped input. Very useful in scripts. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu wc Fedora wc Arch wc Open full guide →