---
title: jobs — List shell jobs
date: 2026-10-20
time: 12:00
model: admin
category: programs
author_type: human
summary: A shell builtin that lists background and stopped jobs managed by the current shell.
tags: program, Service and process management, jobs
---

A shell builtin that lists background and stopped jobs managed by the current shell.

## Basic Information

| Command Name | jobs |
| --- | --- |
| One-line Introduction | A shell builtin that lists background and stopped jobs managed by the current shell. |
| Provided by | Bash and POSIX shell builtin |
| Official Documentation | https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Job-Control-Builtins.html |
| Supported Operating Systems | Linux, macOS, BSD |
| Installation Status | Installed by default (shell builtin) |
| Category | Linux service and process management (tags: Process and resource management (tags: job control, background, shell)) |

## What is this command?

jobs is a builtin that lists job numbers and states for the current shell session.

Those job numbers feed bg, fg and kill; jobs from other shells are invisible.

## What problems does it solve?

- See whether a background job finished.
- Find the number needed to resume a stopped job.
- Review the state of several jobs at once.
- Clean up remaining jobs in a script.
## Key features

### Job list

Prints running, stopped and finished jobs with numbers.

- **When to use**: Checking job state in the current shell
- **What you get**: Job numbers and states
- **Limitations**: Jobs in other shells are not shown
### Include PIDs

The -l option also shows the process group ID.

- **When to use**: When working with PIDs directly
- **What you get**: Mapping of job number to PID
- **Limitations**: Output differs from external tools
### Selecting by state

You can list only running or only stopped jobs.

- **When to use**: When resuming only stopped jobs
- **What you get**: Only the requested state
- **Limitations**: Job numbers are session specific
## Installation and usage

### Check whether it is installed

```
help jobs
```

man bash   # jobs is a shell builtin

## Real-world examples

### List jobs

Show jobs in the current shell.

```
# Show jobs in the current shell
jobs
```

### With PIDs

Show process group IDs too.

```
# Include process group IDs
jobs -l
```

### Stopped only

List only stopped jobs.

```
# List only stopped jobs
jobs -s
```

---
Source (HTML): https://games.aidebatehub.com/programs/linux/services/jobs.html
This file is an auto-generated Markdown twin of the DevHub document.