Name

strings - find printable strings in files

Synopsis

$ strings [-n NUMBER] [-p] [-t FORMAT] [PATHS...]  

Description

strings looks for printable strings in each file specified in PATHS and writes them to standard output. If PATHS is not specified, input is read from standard input.

Options

• -n NUMBER: Specify the minimum string length (4 is default).
• -p: Write the pathname for each file specified in PATHS to standard output.
• -t FORMAT: Write each string preceded by its byte offset from the start of the file in the specified FORMAT, where FORMAT matches one of the following: d (decimal), o (octal), or x (hexidecimal).

Examples

Display the printable strings in /bin/strings with a minimum length of 8 characters:

$ strings -n 8 /bin/strings

Display the printable strings in a binary file, preceded by their byte offset in hexadecimal format:

$ strings -t x ~/Videos/test.webm

Display the printable strings in all .txt files in the current directory, preceded by their pathname:

$ strings -p *.txt