Quick Tip

Tame Your Terminal Output: The `column` Command for Clean Layouts

Challenge: When working with commands that output tabular data or multiple columns, the output can often be messy and difficult to read, especially when columns don’t align neatly.

The Solution: Use the `column` command to format your output into neat, aligned columns.

command_that_outputs_columns | column -t

Why it works: The -t option tells column to create a table, intelligently determining the number of columns and padding them with spaces for perfect alignment.

Pro-Tip: For even more control, you can use column -s delimiter -t to specify a different delimiter than whitespace.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 6/17/2026