FOLD(1) User Commands FOLD(1)

fold - wrap each input line to fit in specified width

fold [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Wrap input lines in each FILE, writing to standard output.

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

-b, --bytes
count bytes rather than columns
-c, --characters
count characters rather than columns
-s, --spaces
break after blanks, or in words greater than WIDTH
-w, --width=WIDTH
use WIDTH columns instead of 80
--help
display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit

Written by David MacKenzie.

Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/
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Copyright © 2026 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.

fmt(1)

Full documentation https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/fold
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) fold invocation'

February 2026 GNU coreutils 9.10