CUU/CUD/CUF/CUB

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Standard

CUU, CUD, CUF, and CUB are CSI sequences that move the cursor by a relative number of positions in a single direction.

Syntax

CSI Pn A      CUU — Cursor Up
CSI Pn B      CUD — Cursor Down
CSI Pn C      CUF — Cursor Forward (Right)
CSI Pn D      CUB — Cursor Back (Left)

Formal syntax

CUU = 0x1b, "[", [ Pn ], "A" ;
CUD = 0x1b, "[", [ Pn ], "B" ;
CUF = 0x1b, "[", [ Pn ], "C" ;
CUB = 0x1b, "[", [ Pn ], "D" ;
Pn  = digit, { digit } ;                (* default: 1 *)
digit = "0" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "4"
    | "5" | "6" | "7" | "8" | "9" ;

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
`Pn`	Number of positions to move	1

Description

Per ECMA-48 §8.3.22 (CUU), §8.3.19 (CUD), §8.3.20 (CUF), §8.3.18 (CUB), these sequences move the active presentation position by Pn positions in the specified direction.

CUU (CSI Pn A) — Moves the cursor up by Pn lines. The cursor stops at the top margin of the scrolling region; it does not scroll the display.
CUD (CSI Pn B) — Moves the cursor down by Pn lines. The cursor stops at the bottom margin; it does not scroll.
CUF (CSI Pn C) — Moves the cursor right by Pn columns. The cursor stops at the right margin; it does not wrap.
CUB (CSI Pn D) — Moves the cursor left by Pn columns. The cursor stops at the left margin (column 1); it does not wrap.

If Pn is 0, it is treated as 1 by most terminals (the spec says the default is 1, and a value of 0 is commonly treated the same way). The cursor column (for CUU/CUD) or row (for CUF/CUB) is not changed.

note

These sequences never cause scrolling. Use IND/RI or SU/SD for scroll operations.

Examples

printf '\e[5A'       # Move up 5 lines
printf '\e[3B'       # Move down 3 lines
printf '\e[10C'      # Move right 10 columns
printf '\e[2D'       # Move left 2 columns
printf '\e[A'        # Move up 1 line (default)

Specifications

Specification	Section
XTerm ctlseqs	—

Terminal support

Terminal	Support	Version	Notes
Terminal Emulators
Alacritty	✓	0.1.0	Implemented via move_up/move_down/move_forward/move_backward methods
Bobcat	✓	0.9.0	Supported via TerminalCtrl library
contour	✓	v0.1.0
foot	✓	Yes	CUU (A), CUD (B/e), CUF (C/a), CUB (D) handled at csi.c:890-906
Ghostty	✓	v1.0.0
iTerm2	✓	Yes	VT100CSI_CUU/CUD/CUF/CUB tokens parsed and executed via terminalCursorUp/Down/Left/Right
Kitty	✓	Yes	CUU/CUD/CUF/CUB (CSI A/B/C/D) fully implemented in vt-parser.c:1193-1203
Konsole	✓	Yes	CUU (A), CUD (B), CUF (C), CUB (D) implemented at src/Vt102Emulation.cpp:2124-2127
mintty	✓	Yes	CUU (CSI A) at line 3128-3129, CUD (CSI B) at line 3132-3133, CUF (CSI C) at line 3149-3150, CUB (CSI D) at line 3151-3160
mlterm	✓	rel-2_9_0	Implemented at vt_parser.c:5566-5597
PuTTY	✓	0.45
Rio	✓	v0.0.3
rxvt-unicode	✓	1.2
st	✓	0.1
terminology	✓	v0.1.0
VT100	✓	Yes
VTE	✓	Yes	Fully implemented in vteseq.cc as CUU/CUD/CUF/CUB handlers
WezTerm	✓	Yes	CUU (Up), CUD (Down), CUF (Right), CUB (Left) implemented in wezterm-escape-parser/src/csi.rs as Cursor::Up/Down/Right/Left and handled in term/src/terminalstate/mod.rs:2347+
Windows Terminal	✓	Yes	Implemented in ITermDispatch.hpp:41-44 as CursorUp, CursorDown, CursorForward, CursorBackward. Constrained by margins per VT510 spec.
xterm	✓	xterm-406
xterm.js	✓	2.3.0
Multiplexers
cy	✓	v0.1.0
GNU Screen	✓	v.4.2.0
tmux	✓	1.6	CUU (CSI A), CUD (CSI B), CUF (CSI C), CUB (CSI D) all implemented
tuios	✓	v0.0.15
Zellij	✓	v0.1.0-alpha	CUF also supports alternative form CSI a, CUD also supports alternative form CSI e

Syntax​

Parameters​

Description​

Examples​

Specifications​

Terminal support​

See also​