ECH — Erase Character (CSI Pn X)

Erase N cells in place at the cursor — same shape as DCH but the rest of the line does NOT shift left.

Byte forms

Every common string-literal form so you can paste-and-search either direction.

\\x1b[\x1b[PnX

\\033[\033[PnX

\\e[\e[PnX

ESC [ESC [ Pn X

hex1b 5b <Pn> 58

Description

Erase Character. Final byte `X` (0x58) replaces `Pn` cells starting at the cursor (default 1) with blank (SP, 0x20) cells carrying the current SGR background. The cursor does not move and the rest of the line is NOT shifted — this is the key distinction from DCH (`\x1b[Pn P`). Used when an app wants to clear a fixed-width field (input prompt, table cell, progress bar segment) without affecting surrounding content. ECH is bounded by the right margin (DECSTBM column-margins, if active); cells past the right margin are not touched. Terminfo cap: `ech` (parameterised; no `ech1` because the no-shift semantics make the parameterised form universally needed).

Spec citation: ECMA-48 §8.3.38 (ECH)

Examples

bash

# Print a 10-char field, position at col 1, erase 5 chars in place (rest of line preserved).\nprintf '0123456789\033[1G\033[5X'

python

import sys; sys.stdout.write('\x1b[5X')   # clear 5 cells in place

fmt.Print("\x1b[5X")

javascript

process.stdout.write('\x1b[5X')

printf("\x1b[5X");

Terminal support

xterm: yes
Linux console (fbcon): yes
macOS Terminal.app: yes
iTerm2: yes
Windows Terminal: yes
cmd.exe / ConPTY: partial
kitty: yes
alacritty: yes
WezTerm: yes
Ghostty: yes
GNOME Terminal: yes
Konsole: yes
tmux: no
GNU screen: no

xterm	Linux console (fbcon)	macOS Terminal.app	iTerm2	Windows Terminal	cmd.exe / ConPTY	kitty	alacritty	WezTerm	Ghostty	GNOME Terminal	Konsole	tmux	GNU screen
yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	partial	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no

Related sequences

In the family cookbook

CSI cookbook · 6. Insert / delete / cursor shape — IL / DL / ICH / DCH / ECH + DECSCUSR