READLINK(1) User Commands READLINK(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

readlink - print resolved symbolic links or canonical file names

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**readlink** \[*OPTION*]... *FILE*...

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

[**realpath**(1)](/man/os/coreutils/realpath.1) is a better command for canonicalization functionality.

Print value of a symbolic link or canonical file name

[**-f, --canonicalize**](#f,)

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively; all but the last component must exist

[**-e, --canonicalize-existing**](#e,)

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively; all components must exist

[**-m, --canonicalize-missing**](#m,)

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, without requirements on components existence

[**-n, --no-newline**](#n,)

do not output the trailing delimiter

**-q, --quiet**

[**-s, --silent**](#s,)

suppress most error messages (on by default if POSIXLY\_CORRECT is not set)

[**-v, --verbose**](#v,)

report error messages (on by default if POSIXLY\_CORRECT is set)

[**-z, --zero**](#z,)

end each output line with NUL, not newline

[**--help**](#help)

display this help and exit

[**--version**](#version)

output version information and exit

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Written by Dmitry V. Levin.

# [REPORTING BUGS](#REPORTING_BUGS)

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.  
Report any translation bugs to: <https://translationproject.org/team/>.  
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>  
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.  
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**readlink**(2)](/man/os/coreutils/readlink.2), [**realpath**(1)](/man/os/coreutils/realpath.1), [**realpath**(3)](/man/os/coreutils/realpath.3)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>  
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'

September 2026 GNU coreutils 9.12

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Document: readlink(1) from coreutils 9.12-r3 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/coreutils.git