fold

Additional Notes

fold wraps long input lines so no output line exceeds a chosen width. It is a simple filter for making wide text fit a terminal, email, or print column.

By default it counts bytes and breaks anywhere; adding -s makes it break only at spaces, which keeps words intact.

Syntax

fold [options] [file ...]

Parameters

• options: Flags that change the width or break behavior.
• file: File to read; if omitted, reads standard input.

Common Options

• -w N, --width=N: Wrap at N columns (default 80).
• -s, --spaces: Break lines only at spaces.
• -b, --bytes: Count width in bytes rather than columns.
• -c N: Alias for --width=N on some systems.

Examples

fold -w 80 long-line.txt

Wrap a file to 80-column lines.

fold -s -w 60 notes.txt

Wrap at spaces so words are not split.

cat README.md | fold -s -w 72

Make piped text fit a 72-column width.

fold -w 40 paragraph.txt > wrapped.txt

Save a 40-column wrapped copy.

fold -b -w 100 binary.log

Wrap counting raw bytes, useful for non-text logs.

Practical Notes

• Without -s, fold may cut a word across two lines.
• Use -s for prose, emails, and any human-readable output.
• The default width is 80 columns, the classic terminal size.
• For a smarter, word-aware formatter, fmt is often preferable to fold.