SCOSC / SCORC — Save / Restore cursor (CSI s / u)

CSI-style save (s) and restore (u) of cursor position — distinct from ESC 7 / ESC 8 (DECSC / DECRC).

Byte forms

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

\\x1b[\x1b[s (save) \x1b[u (restore)

\\033[\033[s / \033[u

\\e[\e[s / \e[u

ESC [ESC [ s / u

hex1b 5b 73 / 75

Description

Save Cursor Position (SCOSC, final byte `s`, 0x73) and Restore Cursor Position (SCORC, final byte `u`, 0x75). Originally from the SCO ANSI terminal; xterm, VTE, ConPTY, and Windows Terminal all honour them today. They are NOT the same as the older DEC pair DECSC (`\x1b7`) / DECRC (`\x1b8`): SCOSC/SCORC save ONLY the position (row + column), whereas DECSC also saves SGR attributes, character-set state, and origin mode. There is exactly ONE save slot — calling SCOSC again overwrites the prior save. Caveat: `\x1b[s` collides with DECSLRM (Set Left/Right Margins) when LRMM mode (`?69h`) is active; under standard xterm defaults LRMM is OFF and `s` is unambiguous.

Spec citation: xterm-ctlseqs (SCOSC / SCORC, CSI s / u)

Examples

bash

printf 'a\033[sBCD\033[u_'   # save after 'a', write BCD, restore, write _ -> 'a_CD'

python

import sys; sys.stdout.write('\x1b[s'); ...; sys.stdout.write('\x1b[u')

fmt.Print("\x1b[s"); /* ... */ fmt.Print("\x1b[u")

javascript

process.stdout.write('\x1b[s'); /* ... */ process.stdout.write('\x1b[u')

printf("\x1b[s"); /* ... */ printf("\x1b[u");

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