> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://woodrowpearson.gitbook.io/code-gists/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://woodrowpearson.gitbook.io/code-gists/bash/escape-character-bash-reference-manual.md).

# Escape Character (Bash Reference Manual)

 Next: [Single Quotes](/code-gists/bash/single-quotes-bash-reference-manual.md#Single-Quotes), Up: [Quoting](/code-gists/bash/quoting-bash-reference-manual.md#Quoting)   \[[Contents](broken://pages/-M6A84x0i_B0L6Us-oss#SEC_Contents)]\[[Index](/code-gists/bash/indexes-bash-reference-manual.md#Indexes)]

A non-quoted backslash ‘\’ is the Bash escape character. It preserves the literal value of the next character that follows, with the exception of `newline`. If a `\newline` pair appears, and the backslash itself is not quoted, the `\newline` is treated as a line continuation (that is, it is removed from the input stream and effectively ignored).