ASCII 26
ASCII 26 is Substitute — the control character SUB.
Every representation
| Character | SUB (not printable) |
| Name | Substitute |
| Decimal | 26 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x1A |
| Octal | 0032 |
| Binary | 00011010 |
| HTML entity |  |
| Escape sequence | \x1A |
| Unicode | U+001A |
| Keyboard | Ctrl+Z |
| Group | Control character |
What it is for
Replaced a character that arrived corrupted. On DOS and Windows it doubled as an end-of-file marker in text mode, which is why Ctrl+Z ends console input on Windows.
Where the number comes from
Codes 0 to 31 were reserved for control: instructions to a teleprinter rather than characters to print. Code 26 is Ctrl+Z because the Ctrl key was originally wired to clear the top two bits of whatever you typed, mapping the letter Z at 90 down to 26.
Frequently asked questions
What is ASCII 26?
Substitute (SUB), a control character. In hexadecimal it is 0x1A, in octal 0032, and in binary 00011010.
How do I type ASCII 26?
Press Ctrl+Z in a terminal. In a string literal you can write it as \\x1A in most languages.
Is ASCII 26 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 19 — DC3
- ASCII 20 — DC4
- ASCII 21 — NAK
- ASCII 22 — SYN
- ASCII 23 — ETB
- ASCII 24 — CAN
- ASCII 25 — EM
- ASCII 27 — ESC
- ASCII 28 — FS
- ASCII 29 — GS
- ASCII 30 — RS
- ASCII 31 — US
- ASCII 32 — space
- ASCII 33 — !
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