How to Find Length of String in Bash: Simple Guide

In Bash, you can find the length of a string using ${#string}. This syntax returns the number of characters in the variable string.

Syntax

The syntax to find the length of a string in Bash is ${#string}.

• string: The variable holding your text.
• ${#string}: Expands to the length of the string stored in string.

bash

length=${#string}

Example

This example shows how to store a string in a variable and then print its length using ${#string}.

bash

string="Hello, Bash!"
length=${#string}
echo "Length of string: $length"

Output

Length of string: 12

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is trying to use strlen like in other languages; Bash does not have this function. Another is forgetting to use the variable name without quotes inside the length syntax.

Wrong: length=${#"$string"} or length=strlen($string)

Right: length=${#string}

bash

string="test"
# Wrong way:
# length=${#"$string"}  # This will not work as expected
# length=strlen($string) # Bash has no strlen function

# Right way:
length=${#string}
echo "$length"

Output

4

Quick Reference

Operation	Syntax	Description
Get string length	${#string}	Returns number of characters in string
Print length	echo ${#string}	Displays length on terminal
Assign length	length=${#string}	Stores length in variable

Key Takeaways

Use ${#string} to get the length of a string in Bash.

Do not use functions like strlen; they do not exist in Bash.

Avoid quoting the variable inside the length syntax.

Store the length in a variable or print it directly with echo.

This method counts all characters including spaces and punctuation.