In Unix, how do I combine several text files into a single file?

In Unix, to combine several text files into a single file, use the cat command: cat file1 file2 file3 > newfile Replace file1, file2, and file3 with the names of the files you wish to combine, in the order you want them to appear in the combined document. Replace newfile with a name for your newly combined single file.

If you want to add one or more files to an existing document, use the format: cat file1 file2 file3 >> destfile This command will add file1, file2, and file3 (in that order) to the end of destfile.

Note: If you use > instead of >>, you will overwrite destfile rather than add to it.

At Indiana University, to get support for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

Also see:

• In Unix, what is tar, and how do I use it?
• In Mac OS and Mac OS X, how can I concatenate a multi-part text file?
• In Unix, how can I split large files into a number of smaller files?
• Introduction to Unix commands