You can perform some basic text formatting using escape characters. An escape character is a special character that you preface with a backslash (\). It indicates that the escape character is a special character that should be specially interpreted. Escape characters. Escape Character Means \" Double quotation mark \t Tab \n Newline \r Return \f Form feed \b Backspace \a Alarm (bell) \e Escape \033 Octal char \x1b Hex char \c[ Control char