ASCII 20
ASCII 20 is Device Control 4 — the control character DC4.
Every representation
| Character | DC4 (not printable) |
| Name | Device Control 4 |
| Decimal | 20 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x14 |
| Octal | 0024 |
| Binary | 00010100 |
| HTML entity |  |
| Escape sequence | \x14 |
| Unicode | U+0014 |
| Keyboard | Ctrl+T |
| Group | Control character |
What it is for
A general device control signal, historically used to stop a device.
Where the number comes from
Codes 0 to 31 were reserved for control: instructions to a teleprinter rather than characters to print. Code 20 is Ctrl+T because the Ctrl key was originally wired to clear the top two bits of whatever you typed, mapping the letter T at 84 down to 20.
Frequently asked questions
What is ASCII 20?
Device Control 4 (DC4), a control character. In hexadecimal it is 0x14, in octal 0024, and in binary 00010100.
How do I type ASCII 20?
Press Ctrl+T in a terminal. In a string literal you can write it as \\x14 in most languages.
Is ASCII 20 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
- ASCII 13 — CR
- ASCII 14 — SO
- ASCII 15 — SI
- ASCII 16 — DLE
- ASCII 17 — DC1
- ASCII 18 — DC2
- ASCII 19 — DC3
- ASCII 21 — NAK
- ASCII 22 — SYN
- ASCII 23 — ETB
- ASCII 24 — CAN
- ASCII 25 — EM
- ASCII 26 — SUB
- ASCII 27 — ESC
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