# Whereis

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Command on Unix and Unix-like operating systems

**whereis** is a [command](/source/Command_(computing)) on [Unix](/source/Unix) and [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like) [operating systems](/source/Operating_system) used to locate some special files of a command like the [binary file](/source/Binary_file), source **and** [manual page](/source/Man_page) files. The whereis utility was first included with [2BSD](/source/2BSD),[1] dating back to 1979.[2]

## Syntax

The whereis man page provides the following sample usage:

% # Find all files in /usr/bin which are not documented in /usr/man/man1 with source in /usr/src:
% cd /usr/bin
% whereis -u -M /usr/man/man1 -S /usr/src -f *

## Analogs

The Unix [type](/source/Type_(Unix)) command is similar, but it identifies aliases.

Modern versions of [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) feature a similar command: where.[3]

It's also similar to the where utility in [Multics](/source/Multics).

## See also

- [List of Unix commands](/source/List_of_Unix_commands)

- [command (shell builtin)](/source/Command_(shell_builtin))

- [which (command)](/source/Which_(command))

- [type (Unix)](/source/Type_(Unix))

- [hash (Unix)](/source/Hash_(Unix))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Evolution of Unix section 1: User commands"](https://dspinellis.github.io/unix-history-man/man1.html). *dspinellis.github.io*. 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Clement Cole (2022). ["\[TUHS\] whereis command"](https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/TUHS/Mail_list/2022-April.txt). *tuhs.org*. Retrieved 10 October 2023. I'm pretty sure we got it in early 79, so I clearly rewrote it at some point if the dates show later

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Bhardwaj, Pawan K. (2006). "Locating Files with the Where Command". [*How to Cheat at Windows System Administration Using Command Line Scripts*](https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781597491051). Rockland, Massachusetts: Syngress. p. [207](https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781597491051/page/207). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-08-050826-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-08-050826-9). Retrieved 2016-07-05. […] the *Where* command […] is equivalent to using the *Search* option in the Start menu.

## External links

- [man page of whereis command](http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/whereis.1.html)

- [Command whereis – 10 practical examples](https://www.linuxteacher.com/whereis-command-in-linux-with-examples/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201027084509/https://www.linuxteacher.com/whereis-command-in-linux-with-examples/) 2020-10-27 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

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