The finger protocol typically provides details such as the user's login name, their full name, the terminal they are using, their idle time, when they last logged in, and their email address if available.

The finger command may also be used to look up users on a remote system. The format is to specify the user as User@Host. If you omit the user name, the finger command provides the standard format listing on the remote system.

You use finger to find out information about other users on your network, seeing if they are logged in or if they have received mail. host displays address information about a system on your network, giving you a system's IP and domain name addresses.

The latest addition is finger.exe, a command that ships with Windows to retrieve information about users on remote computers running the Finger service or daemon. Communication is carried via the Name/Finger network communication protocol.