ASCII 3
ASCII 3 is End of Text — the control character ETX.
Every representation
| Character | ETX (not printable) |
| Name | End of Text |
| Decimal | 3 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x03 |
| Octal | 0003 |
| Binary | 00000011 |
| HTML entity |  |
| Escape sequence | \x03 |
| Unicode | U+0003 |
| Keyboard | Ctrl+C |
| Group | Control character |
What it is for
Marked the end of a message. Better known today as what Ctrl+C sends — which is why interrupting a program and copying text share a keystroke on different platforms.
Where the number comes from
Codes 0 to 31 were reserved for control: instructions to a teleprinter rather than characters to print. Code 3 is Ctrl+C because the Ctrl key was originally wired to clear the top two bits of whatever you typed, mapping the letter C at 67 down to 3.
Frequently asked questions
What is ASCII 3?
End of Text (ETX), a control character. In hexadecimal it is 0x03, in octal 0003, and in binary 00000011.
How do I type ASCII 3?
Press Ctrl+C in a terminal. In a string literal you can write it as \\x03 in most languages.
Is ASCII 3 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 0 — NUL
- ASCII 1 — SOH
- ASCII 2 — STX
- ASCII 4 — EOT
- ASCII 5 — ENQ
- ASCII 6 — ACK
- ASCII 7 — BEL
- ASCII 8 — BS
- ASCII 9 — HT
- ASCII 10 — LF
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