stty(1) User Commands stty(1)
NAME
stty - change and print terminal line settings
SYNOPSIS
stty [-F DEVICE | --file=DEVICE] [SETTING]...
stty [-F DEVICE | --file=DEVICE] [-a|--all]
stty [-F DEVICE | --file=DEVICE] [-g|--save]
DESCRIPTION
Print or change terminal characteristics.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
too.
-a, --all
print all current settings in human-readable form
-g, --save
print all current settings in a stty-readable form
-F, --file=DEVICE
open and use DEVICE instead of standard input
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
Optional - before SETTING indicates negation. An * marks non-POSIX
settings. The underlying system defines which settings are available.
Special characters:
* discard CHAR CHAR will toggle discarding of output
* dsusp CHAR CHAR will send a terminal stop signal once input
flushed
eof CHAR CHAR will send an end of file (terminate the input)
eol CHAR CHAR will end the line
* eol2 CHAR alternate CHAR for ending the line
erase CHAR CHAR will erase the last character typed
intr CHAR CHAR will send an interrupt signal
kill CHAR CHAR will erase the current line
* lnext CHAR CHAR will enter the next character quoted
* status CHAR CHAR will send an info signal
quit CHAR CHAR will send a quit signal
* rprnt CHAR CHAR will redraw the current line
start CHAR CHAR will restart the output after stopping it
stop CHAR CHAR will stop the output
susp CHAR CHAR will send a terminal stop signal
* swtch CHAR CHAR will switch to a different shell layer
* werase CHAR CHAR will erase the last word typed
Special settings:
N set the input and output speeds to N bauds
cols N tell the kernel that the terminal has N columns
* columns N same as cols N
* [-]drain wait for transmission before applying settings (on by
default)
ispeed N set the input speed to N
min N with -icanon, set N characters minimum for a completed
read
ospeed N set the output speed to N
rows N tell the kernel that the terminal has N rows
size print the number of rows and columns according to the
kernel
speed print the terminal speed
time N with -icanon, set read timeout of N tenths of a second
Control settings:
[-]clocal disable modem control signals
[-]cread allow input to be received
* [-]crtscts enable RTS/CTS handshaking
csN set character size to N bits, N in [5..8]
[-]cstopb use two stop bits per character (one with '-')
[-]hup send a hangup signal when the last process closes the tty
[-]hupcl same as [-]hup
[-]parenb generate parity bit in output and expect parity bit in
input
[-]parodd set odd parity (or even parity with '-')
Input settings:
[-]brkint breaks cause an interrupt signal
[-]icrnl translate carriage return to newline
[-]ignbrk ignore break characters
[-]igncr ignore carriage return
[-]ignpar ignore characters with parity errors
* [-]imaxbel beep and do not flush a full input buffer on a
character
[-]inlcr translate newline to carriage return
[-]inpck enable input parity checking
[-]istrip clear high (8th) bit of input characters
* [-]iutf8 assume input characters are UTF-8 encoded
* [-]ixany let any character restart output, not only start
character
[-]ixoff enable sending of start/stop characters
[-]ixon enable XON/XOFF flow control
[-]parmrk mark parity errors (with a 255-0-character sequence)
[-]tandem same as [-]ixoff
Output settings:
* bsN backspace delay style, N in [0..1]
* crN carriage return delay style, N in [0..3]
* ffN form feed delay style, N in [0..1]
* nlN newline delay style, N in [0..1]
* [-]ocrnl translate carriage return to newline
* [-]ofdel use delete characters for fill instead of NUL
characters
* [-]ofill use fill (padding) characters instead of timing for
delays
* [-]onlcr translate newline to carriage return-newline
* [-]onlret newline performs a carriage return
* [-]onocr do not print carriage returns in the first column
[-]opost postprocess output
* tabN horizontal tab delay style, N in [0..3]
* tabs same as tab0
* -tabs same as tab3
* vtN vertical tab delay style, N in [0..1]
Local settings:
[-]crterase
echo erase characters as backspace-space-backspace
* crtkill kill all line by obeying the echoprt and echoe settings
* -crtkill kill all line by obeying the echoctl and echok settings
* [-]ctlecho echo control characters in hat notation ('^c')
[-]echo echo input characters
* [-]echoctl same as [-]ctlecho
[-]echoe same as [-]crterase
[-]echok echo a newline after a kill character
* [-]echoke same as [-]crtkill
[-]echonl echo newline even if not echoing other characters
* [-]echoprt echo erased characters backward, between '\' and '/'
* [-]extproc enable "LINEMODE"; useful with high latency links
* [-]flusho discard output
[-]icanon enable special characters: erase, kill, werase, rprnt
[-]iexten enable non-POSIX special characters
[-]isig enable interrupt, quit, and suspend special characters
[-]noflsh disable flushing after interrupt and quit special
characters
* [-]prterase same as [-]echoprt
* [-]tostop stop background jobs that try to write to the terminal
Combination settings:
cbreak same as -icanon
-cbreak
same as icanon
cooked same as brkint ignpar istrip icrnl ixon opost isig icanon, eof
and eol characters to their default values
-cooked
same as raw
crt same as echoe echoctl echoke
dec same as echoe echoctl echoke -ixany intr ^c erase 0177
kill ^u
* [-]decctlq same as [-]ixany
ek erase and kill characters to their default values
evenp same as parenb -parodd cs7
-evenp same as -parenb cs8
litout same as -parenb -istrip -opost cs8
-litout same as parenb istrip opost cs7
nl same as -icrnl -onlcr
-nl same as icrnl -inlcr -igncr onlcr -ocrnl -onlret
oddp same as parenb parodd cs7
-oddp same as -parenb cs8
[-]parity same as [-]evenp
pass8 same as -parenb -istrip cs8
-pass8 same as parenb istrip cs7
raw same as -ignbrk -brkint -ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip
-inlcr -igncr -icrnl -ixon -ixoff -icanon -opost -isig
-ixany -imaxbel min 1 time 0
-raw same as cooked
sane same as cread -ignbrk brkint -inlcr -igncr icrnl icanon
iexten echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh -ixoff -iutf8
-ixany imaxbel -ocrnl opost -ofill onlcr -onocr -onlret
nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0 isig -tostop -ofdel -echoprt
echoctl echoke -extproc -flusho, all special characters
to their default values
Handle the tty line connected to standard input. Without arguments,
prints baud rate, line discipline, and deviations from stty sane. In
settings, CHAR is taken literally, or coded as in ^c, 0x37, 0177 or
127; special values ^- or undef used to disable special characters.
AUTHOR
Written by David MacKenzie.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
Report any translation bugs to: <https://translationproject.org/team/>.
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/stty>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) stty invocation'
GNU coreutils 9.12 September 2026 stty(1)
coreutils 9.12 - Generated Wed Sep 23 13:27:51 CDT 2026