LINUX COMMAND ATLAS · COMMAND GUIDE

Linux free command

Display memory use. The -h flag chooses human-readable units.

procps-ng

Syntax

Command form

free [OPTION]...

7 options

Option	What it does
`-h, --human`	Show sizes in human-readable units.
`-b, --bytes`	Show sizes in bytes.
`-k, --kibi`	Show sizes in kibibytes.
`-m, --mebi`	Show sizes in mebibytes.
`-g, --gibi`	Show sizes in gibibytes.
`-s SECONDS, --seconds=SECONDS`	Repeat the display at the given interval.
`-w, --wide`	Use a wide output format.

2 examples

Display memory use. The -h flag chooses human-readable units.

free -h

Refresh memory statistics every two seconds.

free -h -s 2

Linux buffers and cache are generally reclaimable; the available column is often more useful than free when assessing memory pressure.