Python Escape Characters

❮ Python Glossary

Escape Characters

To insert characters that are illegal in a string, use an escape character.

An escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you want to insert.

An example of an illegal character is a double quote inside a string that is surrounded by double quotes:

Example

You will get an error if you use double quotes inside a string that is surrounded by double quotes:

txt = "We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north."
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To fix this problem, use the escape character \":

Example

The escape character allows you to use double quotes when you normally would not be allowed:

txt = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north."
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Other escape characters used in Python:

Code Result Try it
\' Single Quote Try it »
\\ Backslash Try it »
\n New Line Try it »
\r Carriage Return Try it »
\t Tab Try it »
\b Backspace Try it »
\f Form Feed
\ooo Octal value Try it »
\xhh Hex value Try it »

Related Pages

Python Strings Tutorial String Literals Assigning a String to a Variable Multiline Strings Strings are Arrays Slicing a String Negative Indexing on a String String Length Check In String Format String
❮ Python Glossary
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