Bash 5 reference · Text and System Tools

xargs (Linux command)

Build and run commands from input lines, in batches or in parallel; pair with find -print0 and xargs -0 for safe file names.

Bash 5

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Syntax

xargs [-0] [-n N] [-P N] [-I {}] COMMAND

Parameter	Description
`-0`	Input is NUL-separated.
`-n N`	At most N arguments per command.
`-P N`	Run N commands in parallel.
`-I {}`	Replace {} with each input line.

Batches of arguments

printf '%s\n' a b c d | xargs -n 2 echo batch:

Output

batch: a b
batch: c d

Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.

Safe with spaces

touch 'my file.txt' other.txt
find . -name '*.txt' -print0 | sort -z | xargs -0 -I {} echo "found: {}"

Output

found: ./my file.txt
found: ./other.txt

Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.

find · Find files and directories by name, type, size, age or permissions, and act on them with -exec, -delete or xargs.
Bash find and xargs · tutorial