touch Command Guide

Basic Usage

touch creates an empty file or updates the timestamp of an existing file.

bash

# Create empty file
touch newfile.txt

# Create multiple files
touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

# Update timestamp of existing file
touch existing_file.txt

Common Options

touch Options

-a	Change only access time
-m	Change only modification time
-c	Don't create file if it doesn't exist
-t STAMP	Use specified time (YYYYMMDDhhmm)
-d DATE	Parse DATE string
-r FILE	Use timestamp from reference FILE

Creating Files

bash

# Create single file
touch newfile.txt

# Create multiple files
touch file{1..10}.txt

# Create files with specific names
touch README.md LICENSE CHANGELOG.md

Tip

If the file already exists, touch updates its timestamp without modifying its contents.

Setting Specific Time

bash

# Set specific timestamp (YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss)
touch -t 202401151030.00 file.txt

# Using date string
touch -d "2024-01-15 10:30:00" file.txt

# Set to yesterday
touch -d "yesterday" file.txt

# Set to last week
touch -d "1 week ago" file.txt

Copying Timestamps

bash

# Copy timestamp from another file
touch -r reference.txt target.txt

Access vs Modification Time

bash

# Change only access time
touch -a file.txt

# Change only modification time
touch -m file.txt

# View times with stat
stat file.txt

Info

Access time (atime) is when the file was last read. Modification time (mtime) is when the content was last changed.

Don't Create New Files

bash

# Only update if file exists
touch -c nonexistent.txt  # Does nothing

touch -c existing.txt     # Updates timestamp

Practical Examples

Create project files

bash

touch .gitignore README.md package.json

Create placeholder files

bash

touch src/{index,app,utils}.js

Force rebuild (make)

bash

# Update source file timestamp to trigger rebuild
touch src/main.c && make

Create marker/flag files

bash

touch /tmp/processing_started
# ... do work ...
touch /tmp/processing_completed

Backdate a file

bash

touch -d "2020-01-01" old_file.txt

Create .keep files for empty directories

bash

mkdir -p logs tmp cache
touch logs/.keep tmp/.keep cache/.keep

Alternatives for Creating Files

bash

# Using output redirection
> newfile.txt

# Using echo
echo "" > newfile.txt

# Using cat
cat /dev/null > newfile.txt

# Create with content
echo "content" > file.txt

Summary

touch is handy for file creation and timestamp management. Key takeaways:

Use touch file to create empty files
Use touch -t to set specific timestamp
Use touch -r to copy timestamp from another file
Use touch -c to avoid creating new files
Use touch -a/-m for access/modification time only

Quick Reference

Basic

Timestamp

Set Time

Common

Downloadable Image Preview

Basic Usage

Common Options

touch Options

Creating Files

Setting Specific Time

Copying Timestamps

Access vs Modification Time

Don't Create New Files

Practical Examples

Create project files

Create placeholder files

Force rebuild (make)

Create marker/flag files

Backdate a file

Create .keep files for empty directories

Alternatives for Creating Files

Summary

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