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How to escape the character \ in C#?

Stav Alfi
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7 Answers7

59

You just need to escape it:

char c = '\\';

Or you could use the Unicode escape sequence:

char c = '\u005c';

See my article on strings for all the various escape sequences available in string/character literals.

Jon Skeet
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12

You can escape a backslash using a backslash.

//String
string backslash = "\\";

//Character
char backslash = '\\';

or

You can use the string literal.

string backslash = @"\";
char backslash = @"\"[0];
Dustin Kingen
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    He didn't say he wanted it as a char, he said he wanted to know how to write it. – Dustin Kingen Apr 01 '13 at 17:17
  • @Romoku: Well, the question talks about char rather than string, *and* uses single quotes in the example. I agree it could be clearer though. – Jon Skeet Apr 01 '13 at 17:18
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    @JonSkeet Well I edited in the char to provide a complete answer. – Dustin Kingen Apr 01 '13 at 17:19
  • @Romoku: You might want to get rid of the `@'\'` bit as it's invalid. I had a brain-fart when I included it. Also, the `@` makes it a *verbatim* string literal, as opposed to a *plain* string literal without - both are string literals. – Jon Skeet Apr 01 '13 at 17:20
  • @JonSkeet I figured `@"\"[0]` was close enough. Probably not very efficient. – Dustin Kingen Apr 01 '13 at 17:25
1

use double backlash like so "\"

"\\"

cause an escape

Prakash Chennupati
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1

If you want to output it in a string, you can write "\\" or as a character, you can write '\\'.

Umar Farooq Khawaja
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1

Double escape it. Escape escape = no escape! \\

Joshua Grosso Reinstate CMs
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Justin
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1

Escape it: "\\"

or use the verbatim syntax: @"\"

Dave Clausen
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1

To insert a backslash you need to type it twice:

string myPath = "C:\\Users\\YourUser\\Desktop\\YourFile.txt";

The string myPath should now contain: C:\Users\YourUser\Desktop\YourFile.txt

TheProgrammer
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