Bash - check if file is readable

In this article, we would like to show you how to check if file is readable using Bash.

In this example, we use test command alias with -r option to check if file under the path is readable.

Example script.sh file:

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#!/bin/bash

​

path="/path/to/file.txt"

​

if [ -r "$path" ]; then

    echo "The file is readable."

fi

Note: this approach should be used in POSIX shells where other solutions may not work.

Run in command line:

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./script.sh

Example output:

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The file is readable.

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#!/bin/bash

​

path="/path/to/file.txt"

​

if test -r "$path"; then

    echo "The file is readable."

fi

Note: [ ] notation is shorthand of test command.

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#!/bin/bash

​

path="/path/to/file.txt"

​

if [[ -r "$path" ]]; then

    echo "The file is readable."

fi

Note: [[ ]] notation is like extended test command, adding additional features (e.g. regular expressions).

1. Bash - check if file is executable

2. Bash - check if file is writable

3. Bash - check if file is socket

4. Bash - check if file is not zero size