Linux create empty files

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4 Ways to Create a Text File in Linux Terminal

In this Linux beginner series, you’ll learn various methods to create a file in Linux terminal.

In this Linux beginner series, you’ll learn various methods to create a text file in Linux terminal.

If you have used the desktop oriented operating system such as Windows, creating file is a piece of cake. You right click in the file explorer and you would find the option of creating new file.

Things won’t look the same when you are in a command line environment. There is no right click option here. So how do you create a file in Linux then? Let me show you that.

Create file in Linux command line

There are various ways of creating a new file in Linux terminal. I’ll show you the commands one by one. I am using Ubuntu here but creating files in Ubuntu terminal is the same as any other Linux distribution.

1. Create an empty file using touch command

One of the biggest usages of the touch command in Linux is to create a new empty file. The syntax is super simple.

If the file doesn’t exist already, it will create a new empty file. If a file with the same name exists already, it will update the timestamps of the file.

2. Create files using cat command

Another popular way of creating new file is by using the cat command in Linux. The cat command is mostly used for viewing the content of a file but you can use it to create new file as well.

You can write some new text at this time if you want but that’s not necessary. To save and exit, use Ctrl+D terminal shortcut.

If the file with that name already exists and you write new text in it using the cat command, the new lines will be appended at the end of the file.

3. Create new file using echo command

The main use of the echo command is to simply repeat (echo) what you type on the screen. But if you use the redirection with echo, you can create a new file.

To create a new file using echo you can use something like this:

echo "This is a sample text" > filename.txt

The newly created filename.txt file will have the following text: This is a sample text. You can view the file in Linux using cat or other viewing commands.

You are not obliged to put a sample text with echo. You can create an (almost) empty file using the echo command like this:

This will create a new file with just one empty line. You can check the number of lines with wc command.

4. Create a new file using a text editor like Nano or Vim

The last method in this series is the use of a text editor. A terminal-based text editor such as Emacs, Vim or Nano can surely be used for creating a new file in Linux.

Before you use these text editors, you should make sure that you know the basics such as saving an existing from the editor. Unlike the GUI tools, using Ctrl+S in the terminal won’t save the file. It could, in fact, send your terminal into a seemingly frozen state from which you recover using Ctrl+Q.

Let’s say you are going to use Vim editor. Make sure that you are aware of the basic vim commands, and then open a new file with it like this:

What’s your favorite command?

So, I just shared 4 different ways of creating a file in Linux. Personally, I prefer using touch for creating empty file and Vim if I have to edit the file. On a related note, you may want to learn about the file command in Linux that is helpful in determining the actual type of the file.

Which command do you prefer here? Please share your views in the comment section below.

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How to Create a File in Linux

Knowing how to create a new file is an important skill for anyone using Linux on a regular basis. You can create a new file either from the command line or from the desktop file manager.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you various ways to quickly create a new file in Linux using the command line.

Before you Begin #

To create a new file you need to have write permissions on the parent directory. Otherwise, you will receive a permission denied error.

If you want to display the contents of a directory use the ls command .

Creating a File with touch Command #

The touch command allows us to update the timestamps on existing files and directories as well as creating new, empty files.

The easiest and most memorable way to create new, empty files is by using the touch command.

To create a new file simply run the touch command followed by the name of file you want to create:

If the file file1.txt doesn’t exist the command above will create it, otherwise, it will change its timestamps.

To create multiple files at once, specify the file names separated by space:

touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

Creating a File with the Redirection Operator #

Redirection allows you to capture the output from a command and send it as input to another command or file. There are two ways to redirect output to a file. The > operator will overwrite an existing file, while the >> operator will append the output to the file.

To create an empty zero-length file simply specify the name of the file you want to create after the redirection operator:

This is the shortest command to create a new file in Linux.

When creating a file using a redirection, be careful not to overwrite an important existing file.

Creating a File with cat Command #

The cat command is mainly used to read and concatenate files, but it can also be used for creating new files.

To create a new file run the cat command followed by the redirection operator > and the name of the file you want to create. Press Enter type the text and once you are done press the CRTL+D to save the files.

Creating a File with echo Command #

The echo command prints the strings that are passed as arguments to the standard output, which can be redirected to a file.

To create a new file run the echo command followed by the text you want to print and use the redirection operator > to write the output to the file you want to create.

If you want to create an empty simply use:

Creating a File using Heredoc #

Here document or Heredoc is a type of redirection that allows you to pass multiple lines of input to a command.

This method is mostly used when you want to create a file containing multiple lines of text from a shell script.

For example, to create a new file file1.txt you would use the following code:

cat file1.txtSome lineSome other lineEOF

The body of the heredoc can contain variables, special characters, and commands.

Creating a Large File #

Sometimes, for testing purposes, you might want to create a large data file. This is useful when you want to test the write speed of your drive or to test the download speed of your connection.

Using dd command #

The dd command is primarily used to convert and copy files.

To create a file named 1G.test with a size of 1GB you would run:

dd if=/dev/zero of=1G.test bs=1 count=0 seek=1G

Using fallocate command #

fallocate a command-line utility for allocating real disk space for files.

The following command will create a new file named 1G.test with a size of 1GB:

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