comm
Compare two sorted files line by line, showing unique and common lines.
Synopsis
comm [OPTION]... FILE1 FILE2
Examples
comm file1.txt file2.txt
comm -12 sorted1.txt sorted2.txt
comm -23 all.txt subset.txt
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -1 | Suppress lines unique to file 1 |
| -2 | Suppress lines unique to file 2 |
| -3 | Suppress lines common to both |
About comm
The `comm` command compare two sorted files line by line, showing unique and common lines. Text viewing and editing commands are fundamental tools in any Linux user's toolkit.
Linux treats almost everything as a file, so the ability to quickly inspect, filter, transform, and edit file contents from the command line is critical. These commands are regularly combined with pipes and redirects to build powerful data-processing pipelines.
The command accepts 3 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man comm`). The 3 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More File Viewing & Editing Commands
Other commands in the File Viewing & Editing category