How to print colored text in Bash terminal?

To print colored text in the Bash terminal, you use special sequences called ANSI Escape Codes.

In Bash, you use the echo -e command (the -e flag enables the interpretation of backslash escapes) followed by a code that tells the terminal to change color.

The Basic Syntax

The general format is: \033[<COLOR>mYour Text\033[0m

• \033[: Starts the escape sequence.
• <COLOR>: The numeric code for the color.
• m: Ends the color code.
• \033[0m: Very important! This is the "Reset" code. It stops the color so that your entire terminal doesn't stay colored forever.

Common Color Codes

Examples

You can try these directly in your terminal or add them to your variables.sh script:

# Print Red text
echo -e "\033[31mThis is Red text\033[0m"

# Print Green text
echo -e "\033[32mThis is Green text\033[0m"

# Print Yellow text
echo -e "\033[33mThis is Yellow text\033[0m"

Using Variables for Colors (Pro Tip)

Since you are learning about variables, it's much easier to store colors in variables so your code stays readable:

#!/bin/bash

RED='\033[31m'
GREEN='\033[32m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color (Reset)

echo -e "${RED}Error:${NC} Something went wrong!"
echo -e "${GREEN}Success:${NC} The variable is $PRICE_PER_APPLE"

In the example above, ${NC} ensures that only the words "Error" or "Success" are colored, and the rest of the line returns to normal.

Give it a try in your terminal! It's a fun way to make your scripts look professional.