ASCII 127
ASCII 127 is Delete — the control character DEL.
Every representation
| Character | DEL (not printable) |
| Name | Delete |
| Decimal | 127 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x7F |
| Octal | 0177 |
| Binary | 01111111 |
| HTML entity |  |
| Escape sequence | \x7F |
| Unicode | U+007F |
| Keyboard | Delete |
| Group | Control character |
What it is for
On paper tape, punching all seven holes deleted a character, so DEL is 1111111 in binary and sits at the end of the table rather than the start with the other controls. Most terminals send it for the Backspace key.
Where the number comes from
DEL is the odd one out. The other control characters sit at the start of the table, but DEL is at the very end because on punched paper tape it was all seven holes punched — and a punched hole cannot be un-punched, so the all-ones pattern was the only way to void a character already written.
Frequently asked questions
What is ASCII 127?
Delete (DEL), a control character. In hexadecimal it is 0x7F, in octal 0177, and in binary 01111111.
How do I type ASCII 127?
Press Delete in a terminal. In a string literal you can write it as \\x7F in most languages.
Is ASCII 127 printable?
No. Codes 0 to 31 and 127 are control characters — they were instructions to a teleprinter rather than marks on paper, and most terminals show nothing for them.
Nearby codes
Full ASCII table · Text to binary converter · Number base converter