---
name: "terminal-colors.d"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "util-linux"
version: "2.42.4-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/terminal-colors.d"
---

# terminal-colors.d(5)

configure output colorization for various utilities

## NAME

terminal-colors.d - configure output colorization for various utilities

## SYNOPSIS

**/etc/terminal-colors.d/**\[*name***.**\|\[*name*\]**@***term***.**\]*type*

## DESCRIPTION

Files in this directory determine the default behavior for utilities when coloring output.

The *name* is a utility name. The name is optional and when none is specified then the file is used for all unspecified utilities.

The *term* is a terminal identifier (the **TERM** environment variable). The terminal identifier is optional and when none is specified then the file is used for all unspecified terminals.

The *type* is a file type. Supported file types are:

**disable**

Turns off output colorization for all compatible utilities. See also the **NO\_COLOR** environment variable below.

**enable**

Turns on output colorization; any matching **disable** files are ignored.

**scheme**

Specifies colors used for output. The file format may be specific to the utility, the default format is described below.

If there are more files that match for a utility, then the file with the more specific filename wins. For example, the filename *@xterm.scheme* has less priority than *dmesg@xterm.scheme*. The lowest priority are those files without a utility name and terminal identifier (e.g., "disable").

The user-specific *$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/terminal-colors.d* or *$HOME/.config/terminal-colors.d* overrides the global setting.

## DEFAULT SCHEME FILES FORMAT

The following statement is recognized:

*name color-sequence*\

The *name* is a logical name for the color sequence (for example: **error**). The names are specific to the utilities. For more details always see the **COLORS** section in the man page for the utility.

The *color-sequence* can be a color name, an ANSI color sequence, or an escape sequence.

### Color names

Valid color names are: black, blink, blue, bold, brown, cyan, darkgray, gray, green, halfbright, lightblue, lightcyan, lightgray, lightgreen, lightmagenta, lightred, magenta, red, reset, reverse, and yellow.

### ANSI color sequences

An ANSI color sequence is composed of sequences of numbers separated by semicolons. The most common codes are:

| | |
| --- | --- |
| 0 | to restore default color |
| 1 | for brighter colors |
| 4 | for underlined text |
| 5 | for flashing text |
| 30 | for black foreground |
| 31 | for red foreground |
| 32 | for green foreground |
| 33 | for yellow (or brown) foreground |
| 34 | for blue foreground |
| 35 | for purple foreground |
| 36 | for cyan foreground |
| 37 | for white (or gray) foreground |
| 40 | for black background |
| 41 | for red background |
| 42 | for green background |
| 43 | for yellow (or brown) background |
| 44 | for blue background |
| 45 | for purple background |
| 46 | for cyan background |
| 47 | for white (or gray) background |

For example, to use a red background for alert messages in the output of [**dmesg**(1)](/dmesg/1.md), use:

`  `**echo 'alert 37;41' \>\> /etc/terminal-colors.d/dmesg.scheme**

### Escape sequences

**An escape sequence is needed to enter a space, backslash, caret, or any** **control character anywhere in a string, as well as a hash mark as the first** **character. These C-style backslash-escapes can be used:**

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **\\a** | Bell (ASCII 7) |
| **\\b** | Backspace (ASCII 8) |
| **\\e** | Escape (ASCII 27) |
| **\\f** | Form feed (ASCII 12) |
| **\\n** | Newline (ASCII 10) |
| **\\r** | Carriage Return (ASCII 13) |
| **\\t** | Tab (ASCII 9) |
| **\\v** | Vertical Tab (ASCII 11) |
| **\\?** | Delete (ASCII 127) |
| **\\\_** | Space |
| **\\\\** | Backslash (\\) |
| **\\^** | Caret (^) |
| **\\\\#** | Hash mark (#) |

### Comments

**Lines where the first non-blank character is a # (hash) are ignored.** **Any other use of the hash character is not interpreted as introducing a comment.**

## ENVIRONMENT

**TERMINAL\_COLORS\_DEBUG=all**

**enables debug output.**

**NO\_COLOR**

**if defined, this disables output colorization unless explicitly enabled by a** **command-line option. See**  **\<https://no-color.org/\>** **for more details. Supported** **since util-linux version 2.41.**

## FILES

*$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/terminal-colors.d*

*$HOME/.config/terminal-colors.d*

*/etc/terminal-colors.d*

## EXAMPLES

**Disable colors for all compatible utilities:**

**touch /etc/terminal-colors.d/disable**\

**Disable colors for all compatible utils on a vt100 terminal:**

**touch /etc/terminal-colors.d/@vt100.disable**\

**Disable colors for all compatible utils except [dmesg(1)](/dmesg/1.md):**

**touch /etc/terminal-colors.d/disable**\
 **touch /etc/terminal-colors.d/dmesg.enable**\

## COMPATIBILITY

**The terminal-colors.d functionality is currently supported by all util-linux utilities which provide colorized output. For more details always see the COLORS section in the man page for the utility.**

## REPORTING BUGS

**For bug reports, use the** *issue tracker* **\<https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues\>.**

## AVAILABILITY

**terminal-colors.d is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from** *Linux Kernel Archive* **\<https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/\>.**