echo

write arguments to standard output

TLDR

Print a text message. Note: quotes are optional

$ echo "[Hello World]"

Print a message with environment variables

$ echo "[My path is $PATH]"

Print a message without the trailing newline

$ echo -n "[Hello World]"

Append a message to the file

$ echo "[Hello World]" >> [file.txt]

Enable interpretation of backslash escapes (special characters)

$ echo -e "[Column 1\tColumn 2]"

Print the exit status of the last executed command (Note: In Windows Command Prompt and PowerShell the equivalent commands are echo %errorlevel% and $lastexitcode respectively)

$ echo $?

SYNOPSIS

echo [SHORT-OPTION]... [STRING]...
echo LONG-OPTION

DESCRIPTION

Echo the STRING(s) to standard output.

-n: do not output the trailing newline
-e: enable interpretation of backslash escapes
-E: disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default)
--help: display this help and exit
--version: output version information and exit

If -e is in effect, the following sequences are recognized:

\\: backslash
\a: alert (BEL)
\b: backspace
\c: produce no further output
\e: escape
\f: form feed
\n: new line
\r: carriage return
\t: horizontal tab
\v: vertical tab
\0NNN: byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)
\xHH: byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)

NOTE: your shell may have its own version of echo, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports.

NOTE: printf(1) is a preferred alternative, which does not have issues outputting option-like strings.

REPORTING BUGS

GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

Copyright © 2023 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.

AUTHOR

Written by Brian Fox and Chet Ramey.