PRINTF(1) User Commands PRINTF(1)
NAME
printf - format and print data
SYNOPSIS
printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
printf OPTION
DESCRIPTION
Print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, or execute according to OPTION:
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
FORMAT controls the output as in C printf. Interpreted sequences are:
\" double quote
\\ backslash
\a alert (BEL)
\b backspace
\c produce no further output
\e escape
\f form feed
\n new line
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\NNN byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)
\xHH byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)
\uHHHH Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646) character with hex value HHHH (4 digits)
\UHHHHHHHH
Unicode character with hex value HHHHHHHH (8 digits)
%% a single %
%b ARGUMENT as a string with '\' escapes interpreted, except that
octal escapes should have a leading 0 like \0NNN
%q ARGUMENT is printed in a format that can be reused as shell in-
put, escaping non-printable characters with the POSIX $'' syntax
and all C format specifications ending with one of diouxXfeEgGcs, with
ARGUMENTs converted to proper type first. Variable widths are handled.
Your shell may have its own version of printf, which usually supersedes
the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation
for details about the options it supports.
AUTHOR
Written by David MacKenzie.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
printf(3)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/printf>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) printf invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3)
Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/li-
censes/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
GNU coreutils 9.7 June 2025 PRINTF(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:43:49 CET 2025.