ECHO(1)

📦
version 9.10 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

🌸 ECHO(1) — the manual page, but make it cute 🌸

okay bestie, buckle up, we're doing echo — yeah, that echo, the one you've typed a million times without a single thought. she's a GNU coreutils girlie, she lives in the User Commands section of the manual, and she is honestly iconic. goodbye empty terminal line, hello ✨text✨.

💖 NAME 💖

echo — display a line of text. that's it. that's the whole job. no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

echo [SHORT-OPTION]... [STRING]...
echo LONG-OPTION

two moods, two shapes. short options with strings, or one long option and nothing else. she contains multitudes 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So basically: Echo the STRING(s) to standard output. you give her words, she says the words back, out loud, on your screen. main character behavior fr.

Here are the options, and bestie, there are only a few, so no excuses:

  • -n — do not output the trailing newline. she says it and then just... keeps going. no line break. chaotic, love her.
  • -e — enable interpretation of backslash escapes. this is the fun mode. this is when the backslashes stop being decorative.
  • -E — disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default). yes, this is the factory setting. yes, you will forget and then be confused. it's fine. 🙈
  • --help — display this help and exit. she'll explain herself and then leave.
  • --version — output version information and exit. she'll tell you who she is and then leave.

🌈 the backslash lore 🌈 (only when -e is in effect)

if -e is in effect, the following sequences are recognized — and ngl, this list ate:

  • \\ — backslash
  • \a — alert (BEL) 🔔 yes it literally goes beep, she's dramatic
  • \b — backspace
  • \c — produce no further output. she just stops. mid-sentence. the audacity 💀
  • \e — escape
  • \f — form feed
  • \n — new line
  • \r — carriage return
  • \t — horizontal tab
  • \v — vertical tab
  • \0NNN — byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)
  • \xHH — byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)

🎀 a very important vibe check 🎀

Your shell may have its own version of echo, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports. so when she acts different in your shell... yeah. that's her cousin. not a bug, bestie.

Consider using the printf(1) command instead, as it avoids problems when outputting option-like strings. fr fr, if your string starts with a dash and everything is falling apart, printf is the emotionally stable friend. 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Brian Fox and Chet Ramey. kings. we stan. 💜

⭐ REPORTING BUGS ⭐

found a bug? don't just scream into the void (or do, but also):

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

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

🌈 the cute little sign-off 🌈

this whole thing is Packaged by Ubuntu (9.10-1ubuntu2), Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc., and the license is GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. that means it's free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. and there is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law — so like, she's free, she's fabulous, she will not be held legally responsible, iykyk.

and this chapter of the manual is brought to you by GNU coreutils 9.10, dated August 2026, living in the ECHO(1) neighborhood. mwah. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from