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P4 CLI Documentation | 2026.1

# p4 grep

Print lines in files (or revisions of files) that match a pattern.

## Syntax

    p4 [g-opts] grep [-a -i -n -s -t] [-v | -l | -L] [-F | -G] [-A num]
                     [-B num] [-C num]  -e pattern file[revRange] ...

Syntax and naming conventions

## Description

The `p4 grep` command searches for lines that match a given regular expression.

By default, `p4 grep` operates on the head revision. If the file argument specifies a revision, all files as of that revision number are searched. If the file argument has a revision range, only those files selected by that revision range are searched, and the highest revision in that range is used for each file.

By default, `p4 grep` searches at most 10,000 revisions. This limit is controlled by the `dm.grep.maxrevs` configurable.

The following example shows you can find all occurrences of a whole word:

    p4 grep -e "readme" //depot/main/myDir/...

## Options

Option | Description
--- | ---
`-a` | Search all revisions within the specified range, rather than only the highest revision in the range.
`-A num` | Display num lines of trailing context after matching lines.
`-B num` | Display num lines of trailing context before matching lines.
`-C num` | Display num lines of output context.
`-e pattern` | The `pattern`s used by `p4 grep` are regular expressions comparable to those used in UNIX. See the syntax in the output of `p4 help grep`.
`-F` | Interpret the pattern as a fixed string.
`-G` | Interpret the pattern as a regular expression.
`-i` | Perform case-insensitive pattern matching. (By default, matching is case-sensitive.)
`-L` | Display the name of each selected file from which no output would normally have been displayed; scanning stops at the first match.
`-n` | Display a matching line number after the file revision number.
`-v` | Display files with non-matching lines.
`-l` | Display the name of each selected file from which output would have been displayed; scanning stops at the first match.
`-s` | Suppress error messages from files with more than 4096 characters in a single line. (By default, `p4 grep` abandons these files and reports an error)
`-t` | Treat binary files as text. (By default, only files of type text are selected for pattern matching.)
`g-opts` | See Global options.

## Usage notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier? | Can File Arguments Use Revision Range? | Minimal Access Level Required
--- | --- | ---
N/A | N/A | `read`

Your search for returned results