What does 2> file.txt accomplish?

• A. Redirects standard input to file.txt
• B. Redirects standard output to file.txt
• C. Redirects standard error to file.txt
• D. Redirects both stdout and stderr to file.txt

Answer: (C)

In the shell, each program has streams: standard input (0), standard output (1), and standard error (2). The redirection 2> file.txt sends the standard error stream to file.txt, so error messages that would normally appear on the screen are written to that file instead. This does not affect standard output. It’s useful for isolating errors from normal output. If you ever need both streams in the same file, you’d combine redirects like command > out.txt 2>&1, but 2> file.txt alone targets only standard error.