09-08-2023, 12:04 PM
How to Delete Lines From a Particular File Using the sed Command
The delete command removes lines from the current input file without opening the content. There are five sed scripts available:
- Deleting a particular line of input using the d subcommand:
sed '#d' samplefile.txt
For example, to remove the first line from the cities.txt file, run the following:
sed '1d' cities.txt
- Deleting multiple lines within a specific range:
sed '#,#d' samplefile.txt
Replace the # symbols with the start and end of the line range. For example, to delete the first, second, and third line from the cars.txt file, enter the following:
sed '1,3d' cars.txt
- Deleting a file content’s last line:
sed '$d' samplefile.txt
For example, to remove the last line from the computers.txt file, run the following:
sed '$d' computers.txt
- Deleting from the nth to the last line:
sed 'nth,$d' samplefile.txt
For example, to remove the second to the last input line from the books.txt file, enter:
sed '2,$d' books.txt
- Deleting the pattern matching line:
sed '/pattern/d' samplefile.txt
For example, to remove the “oabo” pattern from the filestrings.txt file, run:
sed '/oabo/d' filestrings.txt

