Files and directories

`readlink`

Print where a symbolic link points, or with -f the fully resolved path of any file.

readlink [OPTION...] FILE...

7 of 7 examples run in Debian 13.7 on 2026-10-31 · coreutils 9.7-3 · manual: readlink(1)

Without options, readlink prints the contents of a symbolic link: the target text exactly as it was stored by ln -s, which may be relative and may not even exist. If the file is not a symlink, it prints nothing and fails.

With -f, -e or -m it canonicalizes instead: follows every link in every component and prints an absolute path, the same job as realpath. readlink -f is the older, more widely known spelling, so you will see it in many scripts.

Examples

Where does a symlink point

$ readlink link-to-notes

explain

output

notes.txt

The stored target is printed as-is: notes.txt, relative to the link's directory.

A regular file is not a link

$ readlink notes.txt

explain

outputexit 1

(no output)

For anything but a symlink, plain readlink prints nothing and exits with 1. That makes it a quiet "is this a symlink" test, though [ -L file ] is clearer.

One level versus fully resolved

Setup run before this example

ln -s link-to-notes second-link

$ readlink second-link
> readlink -f second-link

output

link-to-notes
/home/dev/demo/notes.txt

second-link points to link-to-notes, which points to notes.txt. Plain readlink shows one hop; -f follows the whole chain and prints an absolute path.

Canonical path of any file

$ readlink -f src/../data/./users.csv

explain

output

/home/dev/demo/data/users.csv

-f works on regular files too: .. and . are resolved and the result is absolute.

Broken links

Setup run before this example

ln -s old-config.json config.json

$ readlink config.json
> readlink -f config.json
> readlink -e config.json

outputexit 1

old-config.json
/home/dev/demo/old-config.json

Plain readlink still shows the target text. -f prints the path the target would have, since only the last component may be missing. -e requires the target to exist, prints nothing and fails.

Find what a process has open

$ readlink /proc/$$/exe
> readlink /proc/$$/cwd

output

/usr/bin/bash
/home/dev/demo

On Linux, /proc/PID/exe and /proc/PID/cwd are symlinks to the program a process is running and its working directory. $$ is this shell's process ID.

Find the real program behind a command

$ readlink -f "$(command -v awk)"

explain

output

/usr/bin/gawk

/usr/bin/awk is a symlink through the Debian alternatives system. readlink -f follows the chain to the program that actually runs, gawk.

Common pitfalls

readlink file on a non-link prints nothing; a script that uses $(readlink "$f") as a path will get an empty string. Use readlink -f or realpath when you want a path either way.
The target text from plain readlink is relative to the link's directory, not to your current directory.

GNU vs BSD and macOS

The examples above ran the GNU/Linux version. These are the differences that matter on macOS and the BSDs (written from their documentation, not run here).

readlink -f works on GNU and on macOS 12.3 and later; older macOS lacks it. -e and -m are GNU-only.

Options worth knowing

A selection, described in our own words. For the full list, see readlink(1) or readlink --help.

Option	What it does
`-f, --canonicalize`	Resolve all links; every component but the last must exist.
`-e, --canonicalize-existing`	Resolve all links; every component must exist.
`-m, --canonicalize-missing`	Resolve all links; no component needs to exist.
`-n, --no-newline`	Do not print the trailing newline.
`-q, --quiet`	Suppress most error messages.
`-s, --silent`	Same as -q.
`-v, --verbose`	Report errors.
`-z, --zero`	End each output line with a NUL byte.

Examples

Where does a symlink point

A regular file is not a link

One level versus fully resolved

Canonical path of any file

Broken links

Find what a process has open

Find the real program behind a command

Common pitfalls

GNU vs BSD and macOS

Options worth knowing

Related