MAXIOL > Colors and formatting

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SuperMax

31.12.2024, 0:36

# Bash tips: Colors and formatting (ANSI/VT100 Control sequences)

The **ANSI/VT100** terminals and terminal emulators are not just able to display black and white text ; they can display **colors** and formatted texts thanks to **escape sequences**. Those sequences are composed of the **Escape character** (often represented by "`^[`" or "` `") followed by some other characters: "` [`_FormatCode_`m`". In Bash, the ` ` character can be obtained with the following syntaxes: *

`\e`

`\033`

`\x1B`

_Examples:_

Code (Bash)	Preview
echo -e "\e[31mHello World\e[0m"
echo -e "\033[31mHello\e[0m World"

_NOTE¹:_ The `-e` option of the `echo` command enable the parsing of the escape sequences. _NOTE²:_ The "`\e[0m`" sequence removes all attributes (formatting and colors). It can be a good idea to add it at the end of each colored text.

_NOTE³:_ The examples in this page are in **Bash** but the **ANSI/VT100** escape sequences can be used in every programming languages.

## Formatting

Here are the most commonly supported control sequences for formatting text. Their support depends on the used terminal ([see the compatibility list](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#terminals_compatibility "bash:tip_colors_and_formatting")).

### Set

Code	Description	Example
1	Bold/Bright	echo -e "Normal \e[1mBold"
2	Dim	echo -e "Normal \e[2mDim"
4	Underlined	echo -e "Normal \e[4mUnderlined"
5	Blink ¹⁾	echo -e "Normal \e[5mBlink"
7	Reverse (invert the foreground and background colors)	echo -e "Normal \e[7minverted"
8	Hidden (useful for passwords)	echo -e "Normal \e[8mHidden"

### Reset

Code	Description	Example
0	Reset all attributes	echo -e "\e[0mNormal Text"
21	Reset bold/bright	echo -e "Normal \e[1mBold \e[21mNormal"
22	Reset dim	echo -e "Normal \e[2mDim \e[22mNormal"
24	Reset underlined	echo -e "Normal \e[4mUnderlined \e[24mNormal"
25	Reset blink	echo -e "Normal \e[5mBlink \e[25mNormal"
27	Reset reverse	echo -e "Normal \e[7minverted \e[27mNormal"
28	Reset hidden	echo -e "Normal \e[8mHidden \e[28mNormal"

## 8/16 Colors

The following colors works with most terminals and terminals emulators ^{[2)](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#fn__2)}, [see the compatibility list](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#terminals_compatibility "bash:tip_colors_and_formatting") for more informations. _NOTE:_ The colors can vary depending of the terminal configuration.

### Foreground (text)


echo -e "Default \e[39mDefault"
echo -e "Default \e[30mBlack"
echo -e "Default \e[31mRed"
echo -e "Default \e[32mGreen"
echo -e "Default \e[33mYellow"
echo -e "Default \e[34mBlue"
echo -e "Default \e[35mMagenta"
echo -e "Default \e[36mCyan"
echo -e "Default \e[37mLight gray"
echo -e "Default \e[90mDark gray"
echo -e "Default \e[91mLight red"
echo -e "Default \e[92mLight green"
echo -e "Default \e[93mLight yellow"
echo -e "Default \e[94mLight blue"
echo -e "Default \e[95mLight magenta"
echo -e "Default \e[96mLight cyan"
echo -e "Default \e[97mWhite"

Code	Color	Example
39	Default foreground color	echo -e "Default \e[39mDefault"
30	Black	echo -e "Default \e[30mBlack"
31	Red	echo -e "Default \e[31mRed"
32	Green	echo -e "Default \e[32mGreen"
33	Yellow	echo -e "Default \e[33mYellow"
34	Blue	echo -e "Default \e[34mBlue"
35	Magenta	echo -e "Default \e[35mMagenta"
36	Cyan	echo -e "Default \e[36mCyan"
37	Light gray	echo -e "Default \e[37mLight gray"
90	Dark gray	echo -e "Default \e[90mDark gray"
91	Light red	echo -e "Default \e[91mLight red"
92	Light green	echo -e "Default \e[92mLight green"
93	Light yellow	echo -e "Default \e[93mLight yellow"
94	Light blue	echo -e "Default \e[94mLight blue"
95	Light magenta	echo -e "Default \e[95mLight magenta"
96	Light cyan	echo -e "Default \e[96mLight cyan"
97	White	echo -e "Default \e[97mWhite"

### Background


echo -e "Default \e[49mDefault"
echo -e "Default \e[40mBlack"
echo -e "Default \e[41mRed"
echo -e "Default \e[42mGreen"
echo -e "Default \e[43mYellow"
echo -e "Default \e[44mBlue"
echo -e "Default \e[45mMagenta"
echo -e "Default \e[46mCyan"
echo -e "Default \e[47mLight gray"
echo -e "Default \e[100mDark gray"
echo -e "Default \e[101mLight red"
echo -e "Default \e[102mLight green"
echo -e "Default \e[103mLight yellow"
echo -e "Default \e[104mLight blue"
echo -e "Default \e[105mLight magenta"
echo -e "Default \e[106mLight cyan"
echo -e "Default \e[107mWhite"

Code	Color	Example
49	Default background color	echo -e "Default \e[49mDefault"
40	Black	echo -e "Default \e[40mBlack"
41	Red	echo -e "Default \e[41mRed"
42	Green	echo -e "Default \e[42mGreen"
43	Yellow	echo -e "Default \e[43mYellow"
44	Blue	echo -e "Default \e[44mBlue"
45	Magenta	echo -e "Default \e[45mMagenta"
46	Cyan	echo -e "Default \e[46mCyan"
47	Light gray	echo -e "Default \e[47mLight gray"
100	Dark gray	echo -e "Default \e[100mDark gray"
101	Light red	echo -e "Default \e[101mLight red"
102	Light green	echo -e "Default \e[102mLight green"
103	Light yellow	echo -e "Default \e[103mLight yellow"
104	Light blue	echo -e "Default \e[104mLight blue"
105	Light magenta	echo -e "Default \e[105mLight magenta"
106	Light cyan	echo -e "Default \e[106mLight cyan"
107	White	echo -e "Default \e[107mWhite"

## 88/256 Colors

Some terminals ([see the compatibility list](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#terminals_compatibility "bash:tip_colors_and_formatting")) can support 88 or 256 colors. Here are the control sequences that permit you to use them. _NOTE¹_: The colors number `256` is only supported by **vte** (GNOME Terminal, XFCE4 Terminal, Nautilus Terminal, Terminator,…). _NOTE²_: The 88-colors terminals (like **rxvt**) does not have the same color map that the 256-colors terminals. For showing the 88-colors terminals color map, run the "[256-colors.sh](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#colors2 "bash:tip_colors_and_formatting")" script in a 88-colors terminal.

### Foreground (text)

For using one of the 256 colors on the foreground (text color), the control sequence is "` [38;5;`_ColorNumber_`m`" where `ColorNumber` is one of the following colors: XTerm 256 color list (foreground)

") _Examples:_

Code (Bash)	Preview
echo -e "\e[38;5;82mHello \e[38;5;198mWorld"
for i in {16..21} {21..16} ; do echo -en "\e[38;5;${i}m#\e[0m" ; done ; echo

### Background

For using one of the 256 colors on the background, the control sequence is "` [48;5;`_ColorNumber_`m`" where `ColorNumber` is one of the following colors: XTerm 256 color list (background)

") _Examples:_

Code (Bash)	Preview
echo -e "\e[40;38;5;82m Hello \e[30;48;5;82m World \e[0m"
for i in {16..21} {21..16} ; do echo -en "\e[48;5;${i}m \e[0m" ; done ; echo

## Attributes combination

Terminals allow attribute combinations. The attributes must be separated by a semicolon ("`;`"). _Examples:_

Description	Code (Bash)	Preview
Bold + Underlined	echo -e "\e[1;4mBold and Underlined"
Bold + Red forground + Green background	echo -e "\e[1;31;42m Yes it is awful \e[0m"

## Terminals compatibility

Terminal	Formatting						Colors				Comment
Terminal	Bold	Dim	Underlined	Blink	invert	Hidden	8	16	88	256	Comment
[aTerm](http://www.afterstep.org/aterm.php "http://www.afterstep.org/aterm.php")	ok	-	ok	-	ok	-	ok	~	-	-	Lighter background instead of blink.
[Eterm](http://www.eterm.org/ "http://www.eterm.org/")	~	-	ok	-	ok	-	ok	~	-	ok	Lighter color instead of Bold. Lighter background instead of blink. Can overline a text with the "`^[``[6m`" sequence.
[GNOME Terminal](http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-terminal/ "http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-terminal/")	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.
[Guake](http://guake.org/ "http://guake.org/")	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.
[Konsole](http://konsole.kde.org/ "http://konsole.kde.org/")	ok	-	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	ok	-	ok
[Nautilus Terminal](https://github.com/flozz/nautilus-terminal "https://github.com/flozz/nautilus-terminal")	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.
[rxvt](http://rxvt.sourceforge.net/ "http://rxvt.sourceforge.net/")	ok	-	ok	~	ok	-	ok	ok	ok	-	If the background is not set to the default color, Blink make it lighter instead of blinking. Support of italic text with the "`^[``[3m`" sequence.
[Terminator](http://www.tenshu.net/terminator/ "http://www.tenshu.net/terminator/")	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.
[Tilda](http://tilda.sourceforge.net/tildaabout.php "http://tilda.sourceforge.net/tildaabout.php")	ok	-	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	ok	-	-	Underline instead of Dim. Convert 256-colors in 16-colors.
[XFCE4 Terminal](http://www.xfce.org/projects/terminal "http://www.xfce.org/projects/terminal")	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.
[XTerm](http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html "http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html")	ok	-	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok
xvt	ok	-	ok	-	ok	-	-	-	-	-
Linux TTY	ok	-	-	-	ok	-	ok	~	-	-	Specials colors instead of Dim and Underlined. Lighter background instead of Blink, Bug with 88/256 colors.
[VTE Terminal](http://developer.gnome.org/vte/ "http://developer.gnome.org/vte/") ^{[3)](https://misc.flogisoft.com/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting#fn__3)}	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	-	ok	Strikeout with the "`^[``[9m`" sequence.

_Notations used in the table:_ *

"`ok`": Supported by the terminal.

"`~`": Supported in a special way by the terminal.

"`-`": Not supported at all by the terminal.

## Demonstration programs ### Colors and formatting (16 colors)

Screenshot of the color_and_formatting.sh script

The following shell script displays a lot of possible combination of the attributes (but not all, because it uses only one formatting attribute at a time).

[colors_and_formatting.sh](https://misc.flogisoft.com/_export/code/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting?codeblock=55 "Download Snippet")

#!/bin/bash

# This program is free software. It comes without any warranty, to
# the extent permitted by applicable law. You can redistribute it
# and/or modify it under the terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want
# To Public License, Version 2, as published by Sam Hocevar. See
# [http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING](http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING) for more details.

#Background
for clbg in {40..47} {100..107} 49 ; do
    #Foreground
    for clfg in {30..37} {90..97} 39 ; do
        #Formatting
        for attr in 0 1 2 4 5 7 ; do
            #Print the result
            echo -en "\e[${attr};${clbg};${clfg}m ^[${attr};${clbg};${clfg}m \e[0m"
        done
        echo #Newline
    done
done

exit 0

### 256 colors

The following script display the 256 colors available on some terminals and terminals emulators like **XTerm** and **GNOME Terminal**.

[256-colors.sh](https://misc.flogisoft.com/_export/code/bash/tip_colors_and_formatting?codeblock=56 "Download Snippet")

#!/bin/bash

# This program is free software. It comes without any warranty, to
# the extent permitted by applicable law. You can redistribute it
# and/or modify it under the terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want
# To Public License, Version 2, as published by Sam Hocevar. See
# [http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING](http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING) for more details.

for fgbg in 38 48 ; do # Foreground / Background
    for color in {0..255} ; do # Colors
        # Display the color
        printf "\e[${fgbg};5;%sm  %3s  \e[0m" $color $color
        # Display 6 colors per lines
        if [ $((($color + 1) % 6)) == 4 ] ; then
            echo # New line
        fi
    done
    echo # New line
done

exit 0

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