Merge Files into Columns with paste
Join corresponding lines of two or more files side by side — the low-effort alternative to awk for quick column pairing.
Run paste -d, names.txt emails.txt to print line 1 of each file joined with a comma, then line 2, and so on.
01Command
Command
$ paste -d, names.txt emails.txt02What it does
paste reads all inputs in parallel and joins their lines with a delimiter: default TAB, or anything you pass to -d (a comma makes instant CSV). It is simpler than awk join logic for the common case of two equal-length lists, and with a single file plus -s it concatenates lines serially, which is handy for flattening a list onto one line. Shorter files are padded with empty fields rather than aborting.
03Risk
!Warning: paste does not sort or match rows — the join is purely positional, so both files must already be in the same order.
04Undo
✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.
05Sources
- paste(1) — merge lines of filesEvidence: Documents paste as merging lines of files and the -d/--delimiters option; confirmed -d and merge in the man page text.
- paste(1) — Debian man page (coreutils)Evidence: Man page documents -d delimiters and -s serial mode (paste one file at a time instead of in parallel); confirmed in page text.
Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: Files & Folders