grep

Before running this

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Syntax

UPPERCASE words are placeholders to replace. Brackets in the syntax line describe optional arguments; do not type those brackets literally.

grep [OPTIONS] PATTERN [FILE...]

Example

grep -nF -- ERROR app.log

Expected result

Matching literal ERROR lines, with line numbers.

Notes and traps

Exit status 1 means no match; greater than 1 generally indicates an error. -F requests literal text.

Related commands

• PowerShell: Select-String
• Bash: find
• CMD: findstr

Related tasks may need different flags and have different semantics. Check the entry before translating a command between shells.

Updated 13 September 2026. Examples describe the expected behavior; not every platform is available for execution testing.