.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.50.1.
.TH TEST "1" "February 2026" "GNU coreutils 9.10" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
test \- check file types and compare values
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B test
.I EXPRESSION
.br
.B test
.br
.\" \& tells doclifter the brackets are literal (Bug#31803).
.B [\&
.I EXPRESSION
.B ]\&
.br
.B "[\& ]\&"
.br
.B [\&
.I OPTION
.SH DESCRIPTION
.\" Add any additional description here
.PP
Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test#test--help'\fB\-\-help\fP\X'tty: link'
display this help and exit
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test#test--version'\fB\-\-version\fP\X'tty: link'
output version information and exit
.PP
An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false.  Otherwise,
EXPRESSION is true or false and sets exit status.  It is one of:
.TP
( EXPRESSION )
EXPRESSION is true
.TP
! EXPRESSION
EXPRESSION is false
.TP
EXPRESSION1 \fB\-a\fR EXPRESSION2
both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true
.TP
EXPRESSION1 \fB\-o\fR EXPRESSION2
either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-n'\fB\-n STRING\fP\X'tty: link'
the length of STRING is nonzero
.TP
STRING
equivalent to \fB\-n\fR STRING
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-z'\fB\-z STRING\fP\X'tty: link'
the length of STRING is zero
.TP
STRING1 = STRING2
the strings are equal
.TP
STRING1 != STRING2
the strings are not equal
.TP
STRING1 > STRING2
STRING1 is greater than STRING2 in the current locale
.TP
STRING1 < STRING2
STRING1 is less than STRING2 in the current locale
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-eq'\fBINTEGER1 \-eq INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-ge'\fBINTEGER1 \-ge INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-gt'\fBINTEGER1 \-gt INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-le'\fBINTEGER1 \-le INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-lt'\fBINTEGER1 \-lt INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-ne'\fBINTEGER1 \-ne INTEGER2\fP\X'tty: link'
INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-ef'\fBFILE1 \-ef FILE2\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-nt'\fBFILE1 \-nt FILE2\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-ot'\fBFILE1 \-ot FILE2\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE1 is older than FILE2
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-b'\fB\-b FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is block special
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-c'\fB\-c FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is character special
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-d'\fB\-d FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a directory
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-e'\fB\-e FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-f'\fB\-f FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a regular file
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-g'\fB\-g FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is set\-group\-ID
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-G'\fB\-G FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-h'\fB\-h FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as \fB\-L\fR)
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-k'\fB\-k FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and has its sticky bit set
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-L'\fB\-L FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as \fB\-h\fR)
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-N'\fB\-N FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and has been modified since it was last read
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-O'\fB\-O FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-p'\fB\-p FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a named pipe
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-r'\fB\-r FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and the user has read access
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-s'\fB\-s FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-S'\fB\-S FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and is a socket
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-t'\fB\-t FD\fP\X'tty: link'
file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-u'\fB\-u FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and its set\-user\-ID bit is set
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-w'\fB\-w FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and the user has write access
.TP
\X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#test-x'\fB\-x FILE\fP\X'tty: link'
FILE exists and the user has execute (or search) access
.PP
Except for \fB\-h\fR and \fB\-L\fR, all FILE\-related tests dereference symbolic links.
Beware that parentheses need to be escaped (e.g., by backslashes) for shells.
INTEGER may also be \fB\-l\fR STRING, which evaluates to the length of STRING.
.PP
Binary \fB\-a\fR and \fB\-o\fR are ambiguous.  Use 'test EXPR1 && test EXPR2'
or 'test EXPR1 || test EXPR2' instead.
.PP
\&'[' honors \fB\-\-help\fR and \fB\-\-version\fR, but 'test' treats them as STRINGs.
.PP
Your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usually supersedes
the version described here.  Please refer to your shell's documentation
for details about the options it supports.
.SH AUTHOR
Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs to: bug\-coreutils@gnu.org
.br
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
.br
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
.br
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
.br
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBaccess\fP(2)
.PP
.br
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test>
.br
or available locally via: info \(aq(coreutils) test invocation\(aq