---
name: "printf"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "coreutils"
version: "9.12-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/printf"
---

# printf(1)

format and print data

## 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 (bell)

- \\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 input, escaping non-printable characters with the POSIX $'' syntax

and all C [**printf**(3)](/printf/3.md) format specifications ending with one of diouxXfaAeEgGcs, with ARGUMENTs converted to proper type first. FORMAT is reused to convert all specified arguments. The following table shows supported conversion specifiers, with examples including usage of width, precision, and flags.

- CONVERSION

  Shell format example        Output

- %s

  '\[%10s\]' 'left pad'         \[  left pad\]

- %s

  '\[%-10s\]' 'right pad'       \[right pad \]

- %c %s

  '%c %.3s' un unibyte        u uni

- %d %i

  "%'d ;%04i" 1234 '-1'       1,234 ;-001

- %o

  '%#o' $((2#110100100))      0644

- %u

  '%u' 0xFFFFFFFF             4294967295

- %x

  '0x%08x' 11259375           0x00abcdef

- %a %f

  '%1$a %1$f' 0.0009765625    0x8p-13 0.000977

- %e %f

  '%1$e %1$f' 123.456789      1.234568e+02 123.456789

- %g

  '%1$g %1$.2g' 1.2345678e3   1234.57 1.2e+03

- %b

  '%bfoo' 'bar\\cbaz' qux      bar

- %q

  '%q ' 'a' \\;b $'c\\n'        a ';b' 'c'$'\\n'

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

Report bugs to: \<bug-coreutils@gnu.org\>.\
 Report any translation bugs to: \<https://translationproject.org/team/\>.\
 GNU coreutils home page: \<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/\>\
 General help using GNU software: \<https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later \<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html\>.\
 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

## SEE ALSO

[**printf**(3)](/printf/3.md)

Full documentation \<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/printf\>\
 or available locally via: info '(coreutils) printf invocation'