Escape Sequence in C

Escape sequences are special character representations in strings, used to denote characters that cannot be entered directly from the keyboard or that carry a specific control function. They start with a backslash \ followed by a character (e.g., \n, \t).

Different escape sequences represent different characters but the output is dependent on the compiler you are using.

Escape Sequence in C Examples

The following are the escape sequence examples that demonstrate how to use different escape sequences in C language.

\n - Prints a new line

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // Here we are using \n, which is a new line character.
    printf("Hello\n");
    printf("GeeksforGeeks");
    
    return (0);
}

Hello
GeeksforGeeks

\t - Prints a tab

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \t will provide a tab space between two words.
    printf("Hello \t GFG");
    
    return (0);
}

Hello 	 GFG

\\ - Prints a single backslash (\)

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \\ prints a single backslash (\)
    printf("Hello\\GFG");
    
    return (0);
}

Hello\GFG

\b - Moves the cursor one position back

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \b (backspace) character moves the cursor one position back
    printf("Hello \b\b\b\b\b\bHi Geeks");
    
    return (0);
}

Output

Hi Geeks

\' and \'' - Prints single (') and double (") quote.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \' prints a single quote (')
    printf("\' Hello Geeks\n");

    // \" prints a double quote (")
    printf("\" Hello Geeks");

    return 0;
}

' Hello Geeks
" Hello Geeks

\v - Prints a vertical tab

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \v prints a vertical tab and moves the cursor down to the next vertical tab position.
    printf("Hello friends\v");

    printf("Welcome to GFG");

    return (0);
}

Output

Hello friends
                       Welcome to GFG

\r - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \r Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line
    printf("Hello   Geeks \rGeeksfor");
    
    return (0);
}

Output

GeeksforGeeks

\? - Prints a question mark

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \? is used to print a question mark (?)
    printf("\?\?!\n");

    return 0;
}

??!

\a - Produces a beep/alert sound.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \a triggers a sound or system beep in the console
    printf("Hello!\a\n");
    printf("This is a beep\a\n");

    return 0;
}

Hello!
This is a beep

\ooo - Represents a character using its octal value.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \ooo Represents a character using its octal value (0-7)
    char *s = "A\072\065";
    printf("%s", s);

    return 0;
}

A:5

\xhh - Represents a character using its hexadecimal value.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    // \xhh Represents a character using its hex value (0-9, a-f, A-F)
    char *s = "B\x4a";
    printf("%s", s);

    return 0;
}

BJ

Escape Sequence List

The table below lists some common escape sequences in C language.

Out of all these escape sequences, \n and \0 are used the most. In fact, escape sequences like \f, \a,  are not even used by programmers nowadays.

Escape Sequence in C

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