CUU / CUD / CUF / CUB — Move cursor

Move the cursor up / down / right / left by N cells.

Byte forms

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

\\x1b[\x1b[NA (up; B down, C right, D left)

\\033[\033[1A

\\e[\e[1A

ESC [ESC [ N A

hex1b 5b <N> 41

Description

Final byte determines direction: `A`=up (CUU), `B`=down (CUD), `C`=forward/right (CUF), `D`=back/left (CUB). N defaults to 1 if omitted (`\x1b[A` moves up one line). The cursor stops at the edge of the visible region; it does NOT wrap.

Spec citation: ECMA-48 §8.3.22 (CUU) / §8.3.19 (CUD) / §8.3.20 (CUF) / §8.3.18 (CUB)

Parameters

A	up by N
B	down by N
C	right by N
D	left by N

Examples

bash

printf 'line1\nline2\033[1A\rCHANGED\033[1B\r\n'

python

import sys; sys.stdout.write('\x1b[2A')

fmt.Print("\x1b[2A")

javascript

process.stdout.write('\x1b[2A')

printf("\x1b[2A");

Terminal support

xterm: yes
Linux console (fbcon): yes
macOS Terminal.app: yes
iTerm2: yes
Windows Terminal: yes
cmd.exe / ConPTY: yes
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	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no

Related sequences

In the family cookbook

CSI cookbook · 2. Cursor movement — CUU / CUD / CUF / CUB + CUP + CHA / VPA