---
name: "ssgrep"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "gnumeric"
version: "1.12.62-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ssgrep"
---

# ssgrep(1)

search spreadsheets for strings

## NAME

ssgrep - search spreadsheets for strings

## SYNOPSIS

**ssgrep**  \[*OPTIONS*\] \[*FILES*\]

## DESCRIPTION

This manual page briefly documents the **ssgrep** command.

**ssgrep** is a command line utility to search for strings in spreadsheets of any format supported by gnumeric. Without any output modifying options, **ssgrep** prints one line for each match. A match consists of the matching content of a cell or, if the **-R** option is given, the matching expression result of a cell.

## OPTIONS

This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with single letter options starting with a single dash (\`-') and longer options starting with two dashes (\`--').

### Options controlling input file handling

- **--recalc**

  Recalculate all cells

### Options controlling patterns and pattern matching

- **-f, --keyword-file=*FILE***

  The path to a text file containing one key per line

- **-i, --ignore-case**

  Ignore differences in letter case

- **-w, --word-regexp**

  Match only whole words

- **-F, --fixed-strings**

  Pattern is a set of fixed strings

- **-R, --search-results**

  Search results of expressions too

- **-v, --invert-match**

  Search for cells that do not match

### Options controlling output in general

- **-c, --count**

  Only print a count of matches per file

- **-L, --files-without-matches**

  Print filenames without matches

- **-l, --files-with-matches**

  Print filenames with matches

- **-q, --quiet**

  Suppress all normal output

- **-H, --with-filename**

  Print the filename for each match

- **-h, --without-filename**

  Do not print the filename for each match

- **-n, --print-locus**

  Print the location of each match

- **-T, --print-type**

  Print the location type of each match

### Help options

- **-V, --version**

  Display ssgrep's version

- **-?, --help**

  Display the supported options

- **--usage**

  Display a brief usage message

## EXAMPLE

To search for the string "SUM" in the file *foo.gnumeric* :

**ssgrep** *SUM* *foo.gnumeric*

To search for the strings from the file *keywords* in the spreadsheet *foo.xls* :

**ssgrep** **--keyword-file=***keywords* *foo.xls*

## LICENSE

**ssgrep** is licensed under the terms of the General Public License (GPL), version 2 or 3. For information on this license look at the source code that came with the software or see the GNU project page ⟨URL: http://www.gnu.org ⟩.

## COPYRIGHT

The copyright on **ssgrep** and the **gnumeric** software and source code is held by the individual authors as is documented in the source code.

## AUTHOR

**ssgrep**'s primary author is Jody Goldberg \<jody@gnome.org\>; **ssgrep** builds on the **gnumeric** codebase.

The initial version of this manpage was based on ssindex.1 by J.H.M. Dassen (Ray) \<jdassen@debian.org\>.

## SEE ALSO

[**beagled**(1)](/beagled/1.md), [**gnumeric**(1)](/gnumeric/1.md), [**ssconvert**(1)](/ssconvert/1.md), [**ssdiff**(1)](/ssdiff/1.md) [**ssindex**(1)](/ssindex/1.md)

The Gnumeric Homepage ⟨URL: https://www.gnumeric.org/ ⟩.

The GNOME project page ⟨URL: https://www.gnome.org/ ⟩.