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sed Cheatsheet - Linux Text Editing Reference

All essential sed commands organized by use case, with 37+ entries you can copy and run directly. Find the right command fast when you need it.

SysOps·37 commands·Last updated 2026-07-21
sed文本处理linux
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Substitute 8

sed 's/old/new/' file
Replace first match per line
sed 's/old/new/g' file
Replace all matches (global)
sed 's/old/new/2' file
Replace the 2nd match per line
sed 's/old/new/I' file
Case-insensitive match
sed -i 's/old/new/g' file
Edit the file in place
sed -i.bak 's/old/new/g' file
Edit and back up the original
sed 's/\/path\/old/path\/new/g' file
Escape slashes when replacing paths
sed 's|old|new|g' file
Use | as delimiter to avoid escaping slashes

Delete 7

sed '5d' file
Delete line 5
sed '5,10d' file
Delete lines 5-10
sed '/pattern/d' file
Delete matching lines
sed '/^$/d' file
Delete blank lines
sed '/^#/d' file
Delete comment lines
sed '$d' file
Delete the last line
sed '1d;$d' file
Delete the first and last lines

Insert & Append 5

sed '5i\new text' file
Insert before line 5
sed '5a\new text' file
Append after line 5
sed '/pattern/i\new text' file
Insert before matching lines
sed '/pattern/a\new text' file
Append after matching lines
sed '5i\line1\nline2' file
Insert multiple lines

Print 5

sed -n '5p' file
Print only line 5
sed -n '5,10p' file
Print only lines 5-10
sed -n '/pattern/p' file
Print only matching lines
sed -n '1p;$p' file
Print first and last lines
sed 's/old/new/p' file
Substitute and print changed lines

Regular Expression 7

sed 's/^prefix/new/' file
Match line start
sed 's/suffix$/new/' file
Match line end
sed 's/\<word\>/new/g' file
Match word boundary
sed 's/[0-9]/X/g' file
Match digits
sed 's/[^0-9]/X/g' file
Match non-digits
sed 's/\(pattern\)/\1/g' file
Capture group and backreference
sed -E 's/(old)/\1-new/g' file
Extended regex (-E or -r)

Multi-line 5

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/\n//g' file
Delete all newlines
sed 'N;s/\n/ /'
Merge adjacent two lines
sed '/start/,/end/s/old/new/g' file
Substitute within a range
sed '/start/,/end/d' file
Delete lines within a range
sed '/start/,/end/p' file
Print lines within a range

Tips

  • Before editing in place with sed -i, back up first (-i.bak), or preview without -i.
  • sed uses BRE (basic regex) by default; +, ?, | must be escaped or enable ERE with -E.
  • On macOS, sed -i requires a backup suffix (e.g. -i ""); on Linux -i works directly.

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Official References

Commands are compiled from the official docs below. Click to verify the latest usage.

Maintained by LaoHand

Publicly updated on Jul 21, 2026, continuously proofread against official docs.

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