head is a command-line utility tool that outputs the first lines of a given file to the standard output. By default, head will return the first 10 lines of the specified file. 

$ head helloworld.txt
Hi World!
Hey World!
Hello World!
Howdy-do World!

Useful Options / Examples

head [file1, file2, ...]

$ head hello.txt world.txt
==> hello.txt <==
Hi
Hey
Hello
Howdy-do

==> world.txt <==
World!
My World!
Our World!
Your World!
  • head gives the user the option to display the first lines of multiple files, where each file is preceded by a header consisting of the string ==> FILENAME <==.

head -n [count]

$ head -n 2 hello.txt world.txt
==> hello.txt <==
Hi
Hey

==> world.txt <==
World!
My World!
  • The -n [count] option asks head to output the first count lines of each of the specified files.

head -c [bytes]

$ head -c 8 helloworld.txt
Hi World!
Hey
  • The -n [bytes] option asks head to output the first bytes bytes of each of the specified files.

ls | head -n 7

$ ls | head -n 7
archive
_commands
_config.yml
deploy.sh
favicon.ico
Gemfile
Gemfile.lock
  • head can also be piped with other commands. For example, we can retrieve the First 7 contents of a directory using ls | head -n 7.