Q1How does printf differ from echo?
Formatted Output — printf
This article is part of the Linux Course, where you master practical Linux skills from scratch, from basic commands through to shell scripting.
Unlike echo, printf adds no trailing newline, so you write \n yourself. Learn inserting values with %s/%d, aligning columns with \t, and creating multi-line files — hands-on in a browser terminal.
How printf Differs from echo — No Auto Newline
printf prints text just like echo, but unlike echo it doesn't add a trailing newline automatically.
You write \n yourself wherever you need a line break.
Since you can build the output exactly as you want, it's also good for creating multi-line files.
printf 'hello\n' prints hello and a newline.
Leave out \n and the next output continues on the same line.
Write it as printf 'a\nb\nc\n' > file and you create a 3-line file directly.
echo adds a trailing newline automatically; printf breaks lines only where you write \n.echo hello # hello + auto newline
printf 'hello\n' # hello + the newline you wrote
printf 'a\nb\nc\n' > letters.txt # create a 3-line file
cat letters.txt # the 3 lines a / b / c
| How to write it | Trailing newline | Result |
|---|---|---|
echo 'hi' | Added automatically | hi + newline |
printf 'hi' | Not added | just hi (no newline) |
printf 'hi\n' | Not added | hi + newline because you wrote \n |
① Create a 3-line file with printf 'a\nb\nc\n' > letters.txt.
② Confirm with cat letters.txt that a, b, c show on 3 lines.
③ Run printf 'no newline' and confirm there's no trailing newline, so the next prompt continues on the same line.
④ Run printf 'with newline\n' and confirm that writing \n adds a line break. (Run it correctly and an explanation will appear.)
Linux console
0 / 4 completed
Loading Linux Terminal...
Inserting Values and Aligning Columns — %s %d \t
Write %s (string) or %d (integer) in the format, and the values listed after it are inserted at those spots.
printf 'name=%s\n' alice prints name=alice.
It's better than simple concatenation with echo for fitting values into a fixed shape.
\t is a tab, used when you want to align columns.
The format is applied repeatedly, once for each set of values that follow.
Print a header and data each in a tab-separated format, like printf '%s\t%d\n' alice 30, and the columns line up.
%s inserts a string, %d an integer, and \t aligns columns with a tab.printf 'name=%s\n' alice # name=alice
printf '%s\t%s\n' name age # the header, tab-separated
printf '%s\t%d\n' alice 30 # a data row, aligned
| Symbol | Meaning | Example → output |
|---|---|---|
%s | Insert a string | printf '%s\n' hi → hi |
%d | Insert an integer | printf '%d\n' 42 → 42 |
\t | Tab (column alignment) | printf 'a\tb\n' → a + tab + b |
\n | Newline | printf 'x\n' → x + newline |
① Run printf 'name=%s\n' alice and confirm alice is inserted at the %s spot.
② Run printf '%s\t%s\n' name age and confirm \t lines up the two words tab-separated.
③ Then run printf '%s\t%d\n' alice 30 and confirm the header and data columns line up.
Linux console
0 / 3 completed
Loading Linux Terminal...
QUIZ
Knowledge Check
Answer each question one by one.
Q2What does printf 'name=%s\n' alice print?
Q3What does \t represent?