Python String Escape and Unescape Tool

Escape or unescape a Python string

This Python string escape tool prepares plain text for a Python string literal and decodes supported Python escape sequences back into readable text. It escapes quotes according to the selected quote style, escapes backslashes and common control characters, optionally converts non-ASCII characters, and runs locally in the browser. It does not add a variable assignment, parse complete Python source, call eval, import modules or evaluate expressions.

Python string escape examples

Plain-text input:

User "admin"
Path: C:\Tools\Unicode
Message: café

Escaped for a double-quoted Python string:

User \"admin\"\nPath: C:\\Tools\\Unicode\nMessage: café

The tool returns escaped string content only. Placed in Python source, that content can be used like this:

message = "User \"admin\"\nPath: C:\\Tools\\Unicode\nMessage: café"

Single-quoted example:

message = 'It\'s stored in C:\\Tools\\Unicode'

Single quotes vs double quotes in Python

Python supports both single-quoted and double-quoted strings. The selected delimiter determines which quote character must be escaped, while backslashes and control characters still need consistent escaping. This converter does not unnecessarily escape the opposite quote character.

Python escape sequences supported by this tool

Unescape mode supports one layer of \\, \', \", \n, \r, \t, \b, \f, \v, \xNN, \uNNNN and \UNNNNNNNN. Malformed sequences such as \xG1, short Unicode escapes or out-of-range values are preserved and reported instead of being silently corrupted. The tool does not implement \N{name}, octal escapes, raw-string parsing or full Python source parsing.

How to escape quotes and backslashes in Python

Escape double quotes when the content will be placed inside a double-quoted Python string, and escape single quotes when it will be placed inside a single-quoted string. Backslashes are escaped as \\, so a Windows path such as C:\Tools\Unicode becomes C:\\Tools\\Unicode in a normal Python string literal.

Python Unicode escape sequences

Unicode characters are preserved by default. When “Escape non-ASCII characters” is enabled, this tool uses \xNN for U+0080 through U+00FF, \uNNNN through U+FFFF, and \UNNNNNNNN for supplementary-plane code points. Unescape mode validates code-point ranges and does not generate invalid surrogate output.

Raw strings and Windows paths

Python raw strings reduce the need to escape backslashes, which can make Windows paths and regular expressions easier to read. For example, r"C:\Tools\Unicode" preserves the backslashes. Raw strings still have syntax limitations and cannot end with an odd number of backslashes. A normal Python string path can be written as path = "C:\\Tools\\Unicode".

How to use the Python string converter

1. Paste plain text or escaped Python-style text into the input field.
2. Select Escape or Unescape.
3. Choose single-quoted or double-quoted output.
4. Optionally enable non-ASCII escaping or Unicode normalization.
5. Process the text, then copy or download the result.

repr() vs escaped string content

repr() returns a developer-oriented representation and usually includes surrounding quote characters. This page returns escaped string content by default, so you can paste the result between your chosen quote delimiters. Results may differ from Python’s version-specific repr() details because quote style and non-ASCII handling are explicit controls here.

Privacy and local processing

This tool processes text with JavaScript directly in your browser. Your input is not submitted to UnicodeNow servers. Input is treated only as text, and the converter does not execute Python code, import modules or evaluate expressions.

Frequently asked questions