Output redirection operator

A rightward angle bracket sending a command's output into a file.

Everyday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

A single greater-than sign after a command sends its output into the named file, replacing whatever the file previously held. Doubling it appends instead.

Officially standardisedVerified fact
POSIX defines the greater-than sign as the output redirection operator: the command's standard output is written to the named file, which is truncated first if it exists.
Contexts: Software
Common modern usageVerified fact
The truncation is the part that surprises people: redirecting into a file that already has contents discards them before writing.
Contexts: Software

Visual description

Two straight strokes meeting at a point on the right, opening toward the left, drawn at the height of a line of text.

Symmetry: horizontal
Orientation: upright

Commonly confused with: Greater-than sign
The same character used for a different job: comparison in mathematics, redirection in a shell.
Opposite of: Input redirection operator
Both are built from abstract forms, and both are used in software contexts.
Part of the same system as: Append redirection operator
Both are built from abstract forms, and both are used in software contexts.

Compare: Greater-than sign vs output redirection →

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Redirection (computing)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
POSIX.1-2024, Shell Command Language
The Open Group / IEEE · retrieved 2026-08-01
Cited for the shell's operator grammar — which characters are operators and what they do — and for nothing outside it. It standardises a notation that already existed rather than inventing one, so records here describe documented practice that POSIX also pins down.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01

Part of

Shell operators

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Meanings

A single greater-than sign after a command sends its output into the named file, replacing whatever the file previously held. Doubling it appends instead.

Officially standardisedVerified fact

POSIX defines the greater-than sign as the output redirection operator: the command's standard output is written to the named file, which is truncated first if it exists.

Contexts: Software

Common modern usageVerified fact

The truncation is the part that surprises people: redirecting into a file that already has contents discards them before writing.

Contexts: Software

Related & commonly confused symbols

Commonly confused with: Greater-than sign
The same character used for a different job: comparison in mathematics, redirection in a shell.
Opposite of: Input redirection operator
Both are built from abstract forms, and both are used in software contexts.
Part of the same system as: Append redirection operator
Both are built from abstract forms, and both are used in software contexts.

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Redirection (computing)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
POSIX.1-2024, Shell Command Language
The Open Group / IEEE · retrieved 2026-08-01
Cited for the shell's operator grammar — which characters are operators and what they do — and for nothing outside it. It standardises a notation that already existed rather than inventing one, so records here describe documented practice that POSIX also pins down.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01