paste

Merge corresponding lines of one or more files into vertical columns, separated by a tab. See also cut , join , and pr .

Options

-

Replace a filename with the standard input.

-d ' char '

Separate columns with char instead of a tab. char can be any regular character or the following escape sequences:

\n	Newline
\t	Tab
\	Backslash
\0	Empty string

Note: you can separate columns with different characters by supplying more than one char .

-s

Merge subsequent lines from one file.

Examples

Create a three-column file from files x , y , and z :

paste

 x y z
 > 

file

List users in two columns:

who | paste - -

Merge each pair of lines into one line:

paste -s -d"\t\n" list