split - split a file into pieces
SYNOPSIS
split [OPTION]... [FILE [PREFIX]]
DESCRIPTION
Output pieces of FILE to PREFIXaa, PREFIXab, ...; default size is 1000 lines, and default PREFIX is 'x'.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a, --suffix-length=N
generate suffixes of length N (default 2)
--additional-suffix=SUFFIX
append an additional SUFFIX to file names
-b, --bytes=SIZE
put SIZE bytes per output file
-C, --line-bytes=SIZE
put at most SIZE bytes of records per output file
-d use numeric suffixes starting at 0, not alphabetic
--numeric-suffixes[=FROM]
same as -d, but allow setting the start value
-x use hex suffixes starting at 0, not alphabetic
--hex-suffixes[=FROM]
same as -x, but allow setting the start value
-e, --elide-empty-files
do not generate empty output files with '-n'
--filter=COMMAND
write to shell COMMAND; file name is $FILE
-l, --lines=NUMBER
put NUMBER lines/records per output file
-n, --number=CHUNKS
generate CHUNKS output files; see explanation below
-t, --separator=SEP
use SEP instead of newline as the record separator; '\0' (zero) specifies the NUL character
-u, --unbuffered
immediately copy input to output with '-n r/...'
--verbose
print a diagnostic just before each output file is opened
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
The SIZE argument is an integer and optional unit (example: 10K is 10*1024). Units are K,M,G,T,P,E,Z,Y,R,Q (powers of 1024) or KB,MB,... (powers of 1000). Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.
CHUNKS may be:
N split into N files based on size of input
K/N output Kth of N to stdout
l/N split into N files without splitting lines/records
l/K/N output Kth of N to stdout without splitting lines/records
r/N like 'l' but use round robin distribution
r/K/N likewise but only output Kth of N to stdout
AUTHOR
Written by Torbjorn Granlund and Richard M. Stallman.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: [https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/] Report any translation bugs to [https://translationproject.org/team/]
SEE ALSO
Full documentation [https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/split] or available locally via: info '(coreutils) split invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later [https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html]. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.