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whereis Command Cheat Sheet

whereis locates the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.

Synopsis

whereis [options] filename

Basic Usage

Find bash locations.

whereis bash
# Output: bash: /usr/bin/bash /etc/bash.bashrc /usr/share/man/man1/bash.1.gz

Specific Searches

Binary Only (-b)

whereis -b bash
# Output: bash: /usr/bin/bash /etc/bash.bashrc

Manual Pages Only (-m)

whereis -m bash
# Output: bash: /usr/share/man/man1/bash.1.gz

Source Code Only (-s)

whereis -s bash

Comparison

Command Searches In Accuracy Speed
whereis Standard install paths Good for system tools Fast
which $PATH only Finds what runs Fast
locate Database (mlocate) Finds everything Very Fast
find Live filesystem Accurate but slow Slow

Notes

  • Directories: It searches a hard-coded list of standard Linux paths (/bin, /usr/bin, /usr/share/man, etc.). It will not find user scripts in ~/bin.