Escape sequences in Python strings serve to represent special characters that either cannot be typed directly or carry specific formatting functions. These are denoted by a backslash (\) and instruct Python to interpret the following character differently from its literal meaning.

Common Escape Sequence Functions

\n — Line Feed

print('first line\nsecond line')

Output:

first line
second line

The \n sequence moves the subsequent text to a new line.

\t — Horizontal Tab

print('column1\tcolumn2')

This inserts a horizontal tab, typically aligning content every eight characters (though behavior may vary slightly across platforms).

\r — Carriage Return

print('old text\rcurrent text')

The \r moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line, allowing subsequent characters to overwrite existing ones. This results in:

current text

\b — Backspace

print('testing\bresult')

The \b removes the preceding character—in this case, the g from testing:

testinresult

\\ — Literal Backslash

print('path: C:\\folder')

Since the backslash itself is an escape character, two backslashes are needed to display one literal backslash.

\' — Single Quote in String

print("He said \'Hello!\'")

This allows inclusion of a single quote with in a string delimited by single quotes, preventing premature string termination.

Raw Strings: r'' or R''

print(r'no escape here:\n')

Output:

no escape here:\n

In raw strings, escape sequences like \n or \t are not interpreted and are printed literally.

Note: Raw strings must not end with a single backslash:

r'end\\'   # ✅ Valid
r'end\'     # ❌ Invalid

Summary of Escape Sequences