| -#- ( # is a symbol used to represent an integer value) | Matches will be printed with # lines of leading and trailing context ; i.e., grep “2 pattern filename will cause grep to print the matched line with the two lines before and after it. |
| -A #, --after-context=# | Print # lines of trailing context after matching lines; i.e, the matched line and the specified # lines after it. |
| -B #, --before-context=# | Print # lines of leading context before matching lines; i.e., the matched lines and the specified # lines before it. |
| -C #, --context=# | Equivalent to -2 . Prints the two lines before and after the matched line. |
| -V, --version | Displays the version information about grep that should be included in all bug reports . |
| -a, --text, --binary-files=text | Processes binary files as text files. |
| -b, --byte-offset | Displays the byte offset before each line of output. |
| -c, --count | Prints a count of matching lines for each input file. With the -v prints a count of nonmatching lines. |
| -D action, --devices=action | If the input file is a device such as a socket or pipe, action is read from the device by default just as thought it were a normal file. If action is skip , the device will be silently skipped over. |
| -e PATTERN, --regexp=PATTERN | Use PATTERN literally as the pattern; useful to protect patterns beginning with - . |
| -f FILE, --file=FILE | Obtain patterns from FILE , one per line. The empty file contains zero patterns, and therefore matches nothing. |
| --help-- | Display a usage message summarizing grep 's command-line options and bug reporting address, then exit. |
| -h, --no-filename | Suppress the prefixing of filenames on output when multiple files are searched. |
| -i, --ignore-case | Ignore case distinctions in both the pattern and the input files. |
| -L, --files-without-match | Print just the names of all files where the pattern does not match. |
| -l, --files-with-matches | Print just the names of all files where the pattern does match. |
| -m #, --max-count-# | Stop reading a file after specified number (#) of matching lines if the file is standard input or a regular file. |
| -n, --line-number | Prefix each line of output with the line number where the match occurred. |
| -q, --quiet | Suppress normal output. Can be used instead of -n . |
-r, -R, --recursive, --directories=recurse
| For directories listed, reads and processes all files in those directories recursively; i.e., all directories from that directory down the tree. |
| -s, --silent | Suppress error messages about nonexistent or unreadable files. |
| -v, --revert-match | Invert the sense of matching, to select nonmatch in lines. |
| -w, --word-regexp | Select only those lines containing matches that are words. Matches are for strings containing letters , digits, and the underscore , on word boundaries. |
| -x, --line-regexp | Select only those matches that exactly match the whole line. |
| -y | Obsolete synonym for -i . |
| -U, --binary | Treat the file(s) as binary. This option is only supported on MS-DOS and MS-Windows. |
| -u, --unix-byte-offsets | Report UNIX-style byte offsets. This option has no effect unless -b option is also used; it is only supported on MS-DOS and MS-Windows. |
| -Z, --null | Places the ASCII null character at the end of filenames, instead of a newline. |
