How to find path to a command in Linux

In this guide, we will go through how to find path to a command in Linux. We will look at the most common commands used in Linux such as which, whereis and type to find path to a command.

which Command

• The which command is installed by default on most Linux systems. To get the path to a command use which as shown below.

which vlc

• You can output all similar path names by including the -a option as shown below.

which -a vlc

Sample output

/usr/bin/vlc
/bin/vlc

whereis Command

• The whereis command finds the location of a specific command’s binaries, source and manual page.

whereis vlc

Sample output

vlc: /usr/bin/vlc /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc /usr/share/vlc /usr/share/man/man1/vlc.1.gz

• To show the source use the -s option.

whereis -s vlc

• To show manual use the -m option

whereis -m vlc

Sample output

vlc: /usr/share/man/man1/vlc.1.gz

type Command

• The type command can determine whether a target is built-in, a function, an alias, or an external executable in addition to displaying the path of a Linux command. Print the path of any command using the type like the example below.

type -P pwd

Sample output

/usr/bin/pwd

• Remove the -P option to view the command description

 type pwd

Sample output

pwd is a shell builtin

• To show the command description executable type and its location using the -a option.

type -a pwd

Sample output

pwd is a shell builtin
pwd is /usr/bin/pwd
pwd is /bin/pwd

• That concludes our guide on how to find path to a command in Linux.

Read more about whereis command

Read more about type command

Other Tutorials

How to kill a process in Linux

How to find a file in Linux

How to move or copy a directory in Linux