Manual: zenity
ZENITY(1) User Commands ZENITY(1)
NAME
zenity - manual page for zenity 4.2.1
DESCRIPTION
zenity is a program that will display GTK+ dialogs, and return (either in the return code, or on standard output) the
users input. This allows you to present information, and ask for information from the user, from all manner of shell
scripts.
For example, zenity --question will return either 0, 1 or 5, depending on whether the user pressed OK, Cancel or
timeout has been reached. zenity --entry will output on standard output what the user typed into the text entry
field.
Comprehensive documentation is also available in the GNOME Help Browser.
Usage:
zenity [OPTION???]
Help Options:
-h, --help
Show help options
--help-all
Show all help options
--help-general
Show general options
--help-calendar
Show calendar options
--help-entry
Show text entry options
--help-error
Show error options
--help-info
Show info options
--help-file-selection
Show file selection options
--help-list
Show list options
--help-notification
Show notification options
--help-progress
Show progress options
--help-question
Show question options
--help-warning
Show warning options
--help-scale
Show scale options
--help-text-info
Show text information options
--help-color-selection
Show color selection options
--help-password
Show password dialog options
--help-forms
Show forms dialog options
--help-misc
Show miscellaneous options
General options
--title=TITLE
Set the dialog title
--width=WIDTH
Set the width
--height=HEIGHT
Set the height
--timeout=TIMEOUT
Set dialog timeout in seconds
--ok-label=TEXT
Set the label of the OK button
--cancel-label=TEXT
Set the label of the Cancel button
--extra-button=TEXT
Add an extra button
--modal
Set the modal hint
--attach=WINDOW
DEPRECATED; does nothing
Calendar options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--day=DAY
Set the calendar day
--month=MONTH
Set the calendar month
--year=YEAR
Set the calendar year
--date-format=PATTERN
Set the format for the returned date
Text entry options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--entry-text=TEXT
Set the entry text
--hide-text
Hide the entry text
Error options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--icon=ICON-NAME
Set the icon name
--no-wrap
Do not enable text wrapping
--no-markup
Do not enable Pango markup
--ellipsize
Enable ellipsizing in the dialog text. This fixes the high window size with long texts
Info options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--icon=ICON-NAME
Set the icon name
--no-wrap
Do not enable text wrapping
--no-markup
Do not enable Pango markup
--ellipsize
Enable ellipsizing in the dialog text. This fixes the high window size with long texts
File selection options
--filename=FILENAME
Set the filename
--multiple
Allow multiple files to be selected
--directory
Activate directory-only selection
--save Activate save mode
--separator=SEPARATOR
Set output separator character
--file-filter=NAME | PATTERN1 PATTERN2 ...
Set a filename filter
--confirm-overwrite
DEPRECATED; does nothing
List options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--column=COLUMN
Set the column header
--checklist
Use check boxes for the first column
--radiolist
Use radio buttons for the first column
--imagelist
Use an image for the first column
--separator=SEPARATOR
Set output separator character
--multiple
Allow multiple rows to be selected
--editable
Allow changes to text
--print-column=NUMBER
Print a specific column (Default is 1. 'ALL' can be used to print all columns)
--hide-column=NUMBER
Hide a specific column
--hide-header
Hide the column headers
--mid-search
DEPRECATED; does nothing
Notification options
--text=TEXT
Set the notification text
--icon=ICON-NAME
Set the icon name
--listen
Listen for commands on stdin
--hint=TEXT
DEPRECATED; does nothing
Progress options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--percentage=PERCENTAGE
Set initial percentage
--pulsate
Pulsate progress bar
--auto-close
Dismiss the dialog when 100% has been reached
--auto-kill
Kill parent process if Cancel button is pressed
--no-cancel
Hide Cancel button
--time-remaining
Estimate when progress will reach 100%
Question options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--icon=ICON-NAME
Set the icon name
--no-wrap
Do not enable text wrapping
--no-markup
Do not enable Pango markup
--default-cancel
Give Cancel button focus by default
--ellipsize
Enable ellipsizing in the dialog text. This fixes the high window size with long texts
--switch
Suppress OK and Cancel buttons
Warning options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--icon=ICON-NAME
Set the icon name
--no-wrap
Do not enable text wrapping
--no-markup
Do not enable Pango markup
--ellipsize
Enable ellipsizing in the dialog text. This fixes the high window size with long texts
Scale options
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--value=VALUE
Set initial value
--min-value=VALUE
Set minimum value
--max-value=VALUE
Set maximum value
--step=VALUE
Set step size
--print-partial
Print partial values
--hide-value
Hide value
Text information options
--filename=FILENAME
Open file
--editable
Allow changes to text
--font=TEXT
Set the text font
--checkbox=TEXT
Enable an I read and agree checkbox
--auto-scroll
Auto scroll the text to the end. Only when text is captured from stdin
Color selection options
--color=VALUE
Set the color
--show-palette
Show the palette
Password dialog options
--username
Display the username option
Forms dialog options
--add-entry=Field name
Add a new Entry in forms dialog
--add-password=Field name
Add a new Password Entry in forms dialog
--add-multiline-entry=Field name
Add a new multi-line entry in forms dialog (Since: 4.2)
--add-calendar=Calendar field name
Add a new Calendar in forms dialog
--add-list=List field and header name
Add a new List in forms dialog
--list-values=List of values separated by |
List of values for List
--column-values=List of values separated by |
List of values for columns
--add-combo=Combo box field name
Add a new combo box in forms dialog
--combo-values=List of values separated by |
List of values for combo box
--show-header
Show the columns header
--text=TEXT
Set the dialog text
--separator=SEPARATOR
Set output separator character
--forms-date-format=PATTERN
Set the format for the returned date
Miscellaneous options
--about
About zenity
--version
Print version
Application Options:
--calendar
Display calendar dialog
--entry
Display text entry dialog
--error
Display error dialog
--info Display info dialog
--file-selection
Display file selection dialog
--list Display list dialog
--notification
Display notification
--progress
Display progress indication dialog
--question
Display question dialog
--warning
Display warning dialog
--scale
Display scale dialog
--text-info
Display text information dialog
--color-selection
Display color selection dialog
--password
Display password dialog
--forms
Display forms dialog
EXAMPLES
Display a file selector with the title Select a file to remove. The file selected is returned on standard output.
zenity --title="Select a file to remove" --file-selection
Display a text entry dialog with the title Select Host and the text Select the host you would like to flood-ping. The
entered text is returned on standard output.
zenity --title "Select Host" --entry --text "Select the host you would like to flood-ping"
Display a dialog, asking Microsoft Windows has been found! Would you like to remove it?. The return code will be 0
(true in shell) if OK is selected, and 1 (false) if Cancel is selected.
zenity --question --title "Alert" --text "Microsoft Windows has been found! Would you like to remove it?"
Show the search results in a list dialog with the title Search Results and the text Finding all header files....
find . -name '*.h' | zenity --list --title "Search Results" --text "Finding all header files.." --column
"Files"
Show a passive notification
zenity --notification --icon=software-update-available --text "System update necessary!"
Display a weekly shopping list in a check list dialog with Apples and Oranges pre selected
zenity --list --checklist --column "Buy" --column "Item" TRUE Apples TRUE Oranges FALSE Pears FALSE Toothpaste
Display a progress dialog while searching for all the postscript files in your home directory
find $HOME -name '*.ps' | zenity --progress --pulsate
AUTHOR
Zenity was originally written by Glynn Foster . It has since been maintained by a number of
contributors since then.
This manual page was originally written by Ross Burton . It currently contains portions which are
automatically generated, and other portions written by its original author.
SEE ALSO
dialog(1)
zenity 4.2.1 February 2026 ZENITY(1)