How do I extract certain columns from a text file in Unix?

Somehow I can never remember the cut command in Unix. But I occasionally want to remove certain columns from a text file of data. cut will do that.

Delimited

Here is a simple tab-delimited example. (Use the -d option to set a different column delimiter.)

Data File (tab-delimited)

xxxxxxxxxx

​

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

Command

xxxxxxxxxx

​

cut -f1,4,6 filename

Output

xxxxxxxxxx

​

111     444     666

111     444     666

111     444     666

111     444     666

111     444     666

There are two other examples in the Search and Replace section of this KB article.
https://kb.ucla.edu/link/117

More options are available in the Unix man pages for cut. Type man cut

Fixed Width

Use the -c option to select characters based on position.

Data File (fixed width)

xxxxxxxxxx

​

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

111     222     3333    444     555     666

Command

xxxxxxxxxx

​

cut -c9,16 filename

Output

xxxxxxxxxx

​

222     

222     

222     

222     

222