Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Tty (Unix)

In computing, tty is a command in Unix and Unix-like operating systems to print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
214 w
Citations
4
Source
tty
ReleaseNovember 3, 1971 (1971-11-03)
Operating systemUnix and Unix-like
PlatformCross-platform
TypeCommand

In computing, tty is a command in Unix and Unix-like operating systems to print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.12

tty stands for "teletypewriter".3

Usage

The tty command is commonly used to check if the output medium is a terminal. The command prints the file name of the terminal connected to standard input. If no file is detected (in case, it's being run as part of a script or the command is being piped) "not a tty" is printed to standard output and the command exits with an exit status of 1. The command also can be run in silent mode (tty -s) where no output is produced, and the command exits with an appropriate exit status.4

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "tty". pubs.opengroup.org. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. "tty". man7.org.
  3. "What does "TTY" stand for?". Ask Ubuntu. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  4. "tty(1) - Linux man page". linux.die.net. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
External links