OSC 10 / 11 — Set default foreground / background color

Set the terminal's default foreground (OSC 10) or background (OSC 11) color, or query the current value.

Byte forms

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

\\x1b[\x1b]10;#RRGGBB\x07 (set fg) \x1b]11;#RRGGBB\x07 (set bg)

\\033[\033]10;#RRGGBB\007 / \033]11;#RRGGBB\007

\\e[\e]10;#RRGGBB\a / \e]11;#RRGGBB\a

ESC [ESC ] 10 ; COLOR BEL / ESC ] 11 ; COLOR BEL

hex1b 5d 31 30 3b ... 07 / 1b 5d 31 31 3b ... 07

Description

OSC 10 sets the terminal's default foreground color, OSC 11 the background. The color argument accepts the same forms xterm parses: `#RRGGBB`, `#RGB`, `rgb:RRRR/GGGG/BBBB`, or X11 names like `cornflowerblue`. Passing `?` as the value (`\x1b]10;?\x07`) makes the terminal reply with the current color in the same syntax — used by tools like vim's `'background'` autodetect to choose a light or dark colorscheme. Reset to the terminal default with OSC 110 (fg) / OSC 111 (bg).

Spec citation: xterm-ctlseqs (OSC 10 / 11 / 110 / 111)

Examples

bash

printf '\033]11;#1e1e2e\007'   # set bg to deep navy\nprintf '\033]11;?\007'        # query current bg

python

import sys; sys.stdout.write('\x1b]10;#cdd6f4\x07')

fmt.Print("\x1b]10;#cdd6f4\x07")

javascript

process.stdout.write('\x1b]10;#cdd6f4\x07')

printf("\x1b]10;#cdd6f4\x07");

Terminal support

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

Related sequences

In the family cookbook

SGR cookbook · 5. OSC palette override — repaint the slot itself