WATCH(1) | General Commands Manual | WATCH(1)

# NAME

`watch` — periodically execute a command and display its output

# SYNOPSIS

`watch` | [`-celwx`] [`-s` seconds] command [arg ...]

# DESCRIPTION

The `watch` utility periodically executes and displays the output of command. Differences between successive runs can be highlighted.

The options are as follows:

`-c`
  Highlight changed characters.
`-e`
  Pause updating if command exits with a non-zero exit code.
`-l`
  Highlight changed lines.
`-s` seconds
  Set the interval between updates to seconds. The default is 1 second.
`-w`
  Highlight changed words.
`-x`
  Pass command to execl(3) instead of `sh -c`, for different quoting and shell escaping behaviour.

# INTERACTIVE COMMANDS

Certain characters cause immediate action by `watch`. These are:

⟨`Space`⟩
  Run command again.
⟨`Page Down`⟩
  Scroll down a screenful.
⟨`Page Up`⟩
  Scroll up a screenful.
`[` | ⟨`left arrow`⟩
  Scroll left by one column.
`]` | ⟨`right arrow`⟩
  Scroll right by one column.
`c`
  Highlight changed characters.
`e`
  Pause command executions if the command exits with a non-zero exit code.
`g`
  Scroll to top.
`H`
  Scroll left half a screen.
`h` | `?`
  Display a summary of the commands (help screen).
`J`
  Scroll down half a screen.
`j` | ⟨`down arrow`⟩
  Scroll down one line.
`K`
  Scroll up half a screen.
`k` | ⟨`up arrow`⟩
  Scroll up one line.
`L`
  Scroll right half a screen.
`l`
  Highlight changed lines.
`r`
  Display information about resource utilization.
`s`
  Change the update interval.
`p`
  Pause or resume command executions. ⟨`Space`⟩ can be used while paused.
`w`
  Highlight changed words.
`q`
  Quit `watch`.

# SEE ALSO

sh(1), getrusage(2), execl(3)

# HISTORY

`watch` was first published in 1991 and has been available since OpenBSD 7.8.

# AUTHORS

Takuya Sato, Kazumasa Utashiro, YASUOKA Masahiko <yasuoka@openbsd.org>, and Job Snijders <job@openbsd.org>.

June 27, 2025 | Debian