---
name: "unaccent"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "unaccent"
version: "1.8.0-10+b3"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/unaccent"
---

# unaccent(1)

remove accents from input stream or a string

## NAME

unaccent - remove accents from input stream or a string

## SYNOPSIS

unaccent \[--debug\_low\] \[--debug\_high\] \[-h\] charset \[string\] \[expected\]

## DESCRIPTION

With a single argument,  *unaccent* reads data from stdin, replaces accented letters by their unaccented equivalent and writes the result on stdout. If the second argument **('string')** is provided *unaccent* transforms it by replacing accented letters by their unaccented equivalent. The result is printed on the standard output.  The charset of the input string or the data read from stdin is specified by the **'charset'** argument (ISO-8859-15 for instance). The output is printed using the same charset.

If the  **'expected'** argument is provided, the output string is compared to it. If they are not equal  *unaccent* exits on error.

*unaccent* relies on the **[iconv(3)](/iconv/3.md)** library to convert from the specified charset to UTF-16BE (or UTF-16 if UTF-16BE is not available). You should check the manual pages for available charsets. On GNU/Linux the command

```
iconv -l
```

shows all available charsets.

## OPTIONS

- **--debug\_low**

  Prints human readable information about the unaccentuation process. See **[unac(3)](/unac/3.md)** for more information.

- **--debug\_high**

  Prints very detailed information about the unaccentuation process.  See **[unac(3)](/unac/3.md)** for more information.

- **--help -h**

  Prints a short usage and exits.

## EXAMPLES

Remove accents from the string **été** and check that the result is  **ete.**

```
unaccent ISO-8859-1 été ete
```

Remove accents from file  **myfile** and put the result in file **myfile.unaccent**

```
unaccent ISO-8859-1 < myfile > myfile.unaccent
```

## SEE ALSO

[unac(3)](/unac/3.md), [iconv(3)](/iconv/3.md)

## AUTHOR

Loic Dachary loic@senga.org

```
http://www.senga.org/unac/
```