watch flags & options

`-n`, `--interval`

Set the refresh interval in seconds (default is 2).

watch -n 1 date

watch -n 5 df -h

Highlight changes between successive updates.

watch -d free -m

watch -d -n 1 "ls -l /tmp"

Hide the header line showing the interval and command.

watch -t date

Exit when the output of the command changes.

watch -g "ls /tmp"

watch -g -n 1 "cat status.txt"

Exit when the command returns a non-zero exit code.

watch -e "curl -sf http://localhost:8080/health"

Interpret ANSI color sequences in command output.

watch -c "ls --color=always"

watch -c -n 1 "docker ps --format 'table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}'"