head

Output the first part of files, prints the first part (10 lines by default) of each file.

SYNTAX
      head [options]... [file]...

      head -NUMBER [options]... [file]...

Options:

-CountOptions

This option is only recognized if it is specified first. Count is a decimal number optionally followed by a size letter (`b', `k',
`m' for bytes, Kilobytes or Megabytes) , or `l' to mean count by lines, or other option letters (`cqv').

-c BYTES
--bytes=BYTES
     Print the first BYTES bytes, instead of initial lines.  Appending
     `b' multiplies BYTES by 512, `k' by 1024, and `m' by 1048576.

-n N
--lines=N
     Output the first N lines.

-q
--quiet
--silent
     Never print file name headers.

-v
--verbose
     Always print file name headers.

head will read from standard input if no files are given or if given a FILE of `-'

If more than one FILE is specified, `head' prints a one-line header consisting of ==> FILE NAME <== before the output for each FILE.

head accepts two option formats: the new one, in which numbers are arguments to the options (`-q -n 1'), and the old one, in which the number precedes any option letters (`-1q')

Examples

Extract the first 85 lines from a file:

head -85 file,txt

Extract lines 40-50 from a file, first using head to get the first 50 lines then tail to get the last 10:

head -50 file.txt | tail -10

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you..." - Rudyard Kipling

Related bash commands:

csplit - Split a file into context-determined pieces
cut - Divide a file into several parts
fmt - Reformat paragraph text
paste - Merge lines of files
split - Split a file into fixed-size pieces
tail - Output the last part of files

Equivalent Windows commands:

FOR /F "skip=nlines" - Loop through items in a text file
FC Input_File Empty_File /lbn - Compare n lines of a file