---
name: "time"
section: "1"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/time"
---

# time(1)

time command execution

## NAME

**time** – time command execution

## SYNOPSIS

**time** \[**-al**\] \[**-h** \| **-p**\] \[**-o** *file*\] *utility* \[*argument* *...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **time** utility executes and times the specified *utility*. After the *utility* finishes, **time** writes to the standard error stream, (in seconds): the total time elapsed, the time used to execute the *utility* process and the time consumed by system overhead.

The following options are available:

- **-a**

  If the **-o** flag is used, append to the specified file rather than overwriting it. Otherwise, this option has no effect.

- **-h**

  Print times in a human friendly format. Times are printed in minutes, hours, etc. as appropriate.

- **-l**

  The contents of the *rusage* structure are printed as well.

- **-o** *file*

  Write the output to *file* instead of stderr. If *file* exists and the **-a** flag is not specified, the file will be overwritten.

- **-p**

  Makes **time** output POSIX.2 compliant (each time is printed on its own line).

Some shells may provide a builtin **time** command which is similar or identical to this utility. Consult the [builtin(1)](/builtin/1.md) manual page.

If **time** receives a SIGINFO (see the status argument for [stty(1)](/stty/1.md)) signal, the current time the given command is running will be written to the standard output.

## ENVIRONMENT

The PATH environment variable is used to locate the requested *utility* if the name contains no ‘/’ characters.

## EXIT STATUS

If *utility* could be timed successfully, its exit status is returned. If *utility* terminated abnormally, a warning message is output to stderr. If the *utility* was found but could not be run, the exit status is 126. If no *utility* could be found at all, the exit status is 127. If **time** encounters any other error, the exit status is between 1 and 125 included.

## EXAMPLES

Time the execution of [ls(1)](/ls/1.md) on an empty directory:

```
$ /usr/bin/time ls
        0.00 real         0.00 user         0.00 sys
```

Time the execution of the [cp(1)](/cp/1.md) command and store the result in the *times.txt* file. Then execute the command again to make a new copy and add the result to the same file:

```
$ /usr/bin/time -o times.txt cp source.iso copy1.iso
$ /usr/bin/time -a -o times.txt cp source.iso copy2.iso
```

The *times.txt* file will contain the times of both commands:

```
$ cat times.txt
        0.68 real         0.00 user         0.22 sys
        0.67 real         0.00 user         0.21 sys
```

Time the [sleep(1)](/sleep/1.md) command and show the results in a human friendly format. Show the contents of the *rusage* structure too:

```
$ /usr/bin/time -l -h -p sleep 5
real 5.01
user 0.00
sys 0.00
         0  maximum resident set size
         0  average shared memory size
         0  average unshared data size
         0  average unshared stack size
        80  page reclaims
         0  page faults
         0  swaps
         1  block input operations
         0  block output operations
         0  messages sent
         0  messages received
         0  signals received
         3  voluntary context switches
         0  involuntary context switches
```

## SEE ALSO

[builtin(1)](/builtin/1.md), [csh(1)](/csh/1.md), [getrusage(2)](/getrusage/2.md), [wait(2)](/wait/2.md)

## STANDARDS

The **time** utility is expected to conform to ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 (“POSIX.2”)

## HISTORY

A **time** utility appeared in Version 3 AT&T UNIX.