Print a multi-line string in Bash
David Y.
—The Problem
How can I print a string with multiple lines in Bash?
echo "Hello\nworld"
produces:
Hello\nworld
The Solution
On some systems, echo includes a -e parameter, which will enable escape sequences like \n. So this:
echo -e "Hello\nworld"
should produce:
Hello world
However, not all versions of echo support this flag. A more reliable and portable alternative is to use printf instead of echo:
printf "Hello\nworld"
will produce:
Hello world
You can read more about printf by typing man printf into your terminal.
- Syntax.fmListen to the Syntax Podcast
- ResourcesWhat is Distributed Tracing
- Listen to the Syntax Podcast
![Syntax.fm logo]()
Tasty treats for web developers brought to you by Sentry. Get tips and tricks from Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski.
SEE EPISODES
Considered “not bad” by 4 million developers and more than 150,000 organizations worldwide, Sentry provides code-level observability to many of the world’s best-known companies like Disney, Peloton, Cloudflare, Eventbrite, Slack, Supercell, and Rockstar Games. Each month we process billions of exceptions from the most popular products on the internet.