How to print color in console using System.out.println?

java text colors

490,081

Solution 1

If your terminal supports it, you can use ANSI escape codes to use color in your output. It generally works for Unix shell prompts; however, it doesn't work for Windows Command Prompt (Although, it does work for Cygwin). For example, you could define constants like these for the colors:

public static final String ANSI_RESET = "\u001B[0m";
public static final String ANSI_BLACK = "\u001B[30m";
public static final String ANSI_RED = "\u001B[31m";
public static final String ANSI_GREEN = "\u001B[32m";
public static final String ANSI_YELLOW = "\u001B[33m";
public static final String ANSI_BLUE = "\u001B[34m";
public static final String ANSI_PURPLE = "\u001B[35m";
public static final String ANSI_CYAN = "\u001B[36m";
public static final String ANSI_WHITE = "\u001B[37m";

Then, you could reference those as necessary.

For example, using the above constants, you could make the following red text output on supported terminals:

System.out.println(ANSI_RED + "This text is red!" + ANSI_RESET);

Update: You might want to check out the Jansi library. It provides an API and has support for Windows using JNI. I haven't tried it yet; however, it looks promising.

Update 2: Also, if you wish to change the background color of the text to a different color, you could try the following as well:

public static final String ANSI_BLACK_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[40m";
public static final String ANSI_RED_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[41m";
public static final String ANSI_GREEN_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[42m";
public static final String ANSI_YELLOW_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[43m";
public static final String ANSI_BLUE_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[44m";
public static final String ANSI_PURPLE_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[45m";
public static final String ANSI_CYAN_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[46m";
public static final String ANSI_WHITE_BACKGROUND = "\u001B[47m";

For instance:

System.out.println(ANSI_GREEN_BACKGROUND + "This text has a green background but default text!" + ANSI_RESET);
System.out.println(ANSI_RED + "This text has red text but a default background!" + ANSI_RESET);
System.out.println(ANSI_GREEN_BACKGROUND + ANSI_RED + "This text has a green background and red text!" + ANSI_RESET);

Solution 2

Here are a list of colors in a Java class with public static fields

Usage

System.out.println(ConsoleColors.RED + "RED COLORED" +
ConsoleColors.RESET + " NORMAL");

Note Don't forget to use the RESET after printing as the effect will remain if it's not cleared

public class ConsoleColors {
    // Reset
    public static final String RESET = "\033[0m";  // Text Reset

    // Regular Colors
    public static final String BLACK = "\033[0;30m";   // BLACK
    public static final String RED = "\033[0;31m";     // RED
    public static final String GREEN = "\033[0;32m";   // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW = "\033[0;33m";  // YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE = "\033[0;34m";    // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE = "\033[0;35m";  // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN = "\033[0;36m";    // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE = "\033[0;37m";   // WHITE

    // Bold
    public static final String BLACK_BOLD = "\033[1;30m";  // BLACK
    public static final String RED_BOLD = "\033[1;31m";    // RED
    public static final String GREEN_BOLD = "\033[1;32m";  // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_BOLD = "\033[1;33m"; // YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_BOLD = "\033[1;34m";   // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_BOLD = "\033[1;35m"; // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_BOLD = "\033[1;36m";   // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_BOLD = "\033[1;37m";  // WHITE

    // Underline
    public static final String BLACK_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;30m";  // BLACK
    public static final String RED_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;31m";    // RED
    public static final String GREEN_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;32m";  // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;33m"; // YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;34m";   // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;35m"; // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;36m";   // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_UNDERLINED = "\033[4;37m";  // WHITE

    // Background
    public static final String BLACK_BACKGROUND = "\033[40m";  // BLACK
    public static final String RED_BACKGROUND = "\033[41m";    // RED
    public static final String GREEN_BACKGROUND = "\033[42m";  // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_BACKGROUND = "\033[43m"; // YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_BACKGROUND = "\033[44m";   // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_BACKGROUND = "\033[45m"; // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_BACKGROUND = "\033[46m";   // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_BACKGROUND = "\033[47m";  // WHITE

    // High Intensity
    public static final String BLACK_BRIGHT = "\033[0;90m";  // BLACK
    public static final String RED_BRIGHT = "\033[0;91m";    // RED
    public static final String GREEN_BRIGHT = "\033[0;92m";  // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_BRIGHT = "\033[0;93m"; // YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_BRIGHT = "\033[0;94m";   // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_BRIGHT = "\033[0;95m"; // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_BRIGHT = "\033[0;96m";   // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_BRIGHT = "\033[0;97m";  // WHITE

    // Bold High Intensity
    public static final String BLACK_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;90m"; // BLACK
    public static final String RED_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;91m";   // RED
    public static final String GREEN_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;92m"; // GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;93m";// YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;94m";  // BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;95m";// PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;96m";  // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_BOLD_BRIGHT = "\033[1;97m"; // WHITE

    // High Intensity backgrounds
    public static final String BLACK_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;100m";// BLACK
    public static final String RED_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;101m";// RED
    public static final String GREEN_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;102m";// GREEN
    public static final String YELLOW_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;103m";// YELLOW
    public static final String BLUE_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;104m";// BLUE
    public static final String PURPLE_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;105m"; // PURPLE
    public static final String CYAN_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;106m";  // CYAN
    public static final String WHITE_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT = "\033[0;107m";   // WHITE
}

Solution 3

I created a library called JColor that works on Linux, macOS, and Windows 10.

It uses the ANSI codes mentioned by WhiteFang, but abstracts them using words instead of codes which is more intuitive. Recently I added support for 8 and 24 bit colors 🌈

Choose your format, colorize it, and print it:

System.out.println(colorize("Green text on blue", GREEN_TEXT(), BLUE_BACK()));

You can also define a format once, and reuse it several times:

AnsiFormat fWarning = new AnsiFormat(RED_TEXT(), YELLOW_BACK(), BOLD());
System.out.println(colorize("Something bad happened!", fWarning));

Head over to JColor github repository for some examples.

Solution 4

Try the following enum :

enum Color {
    //Color end string, color reset
    RESET("\033[0m"),

    // Regular Colors. Normal color, no bold, background color etc.
    BLACK("\033[0;30m"),    // BLACK
    RED("\033[0;31m"),      // RED
    GREEN("\033[0;32m"),    // GREEN
    YELLOW("\033[0;33m"),   // YELLOW
    BLUE("\033[0;34m"),     // BLUE
    MAGENTA("\033[0;35m"),  // MAGENTA
    CYAN("\033[0;36m"),     // CYAN
    WHITE("\033[0;37m"),    // WHITE

    // Bold
    BLACK_BOLD("\033[1;30m"),   // BLACK
    RED_BOLD("\033[1;31m"),     // RED
    GREEN_BOLD("\033[1;32m"),   // GREEN
    YELLOW_BOLD("\033[1;33m"),  // YELLOW
    BLUE_BOLD("\033[1;34m"),    // BLUE
    MAGENTA_BOLD("\033[1;35m"), // MAGENTA
    CYAN_BOLD("\033[1;36m"),    // CYAN
    WHITE_BOLD("\033[1;37m"),   // WHITE

    // Underline
    BLACK_UNDERLINED("\033[4;30m"),     // BLACK
    RED_UNDERLINED("\033[4;31m"),       // RED
    GREEN_UNDERLINED("\033[4;32m"),     // GREEN
    YELLOW_UNDERLINED("\033[4;33m"),    // YELLOW
    BLUE_UNDERLINED("\033[4;34m"),      // BLUE
    MAGENTA_UNDERLINED("\033[4;35m"),   // MAGENTA
    CYAN_UNDERLINED("\033[4;36m"),      // CYAN
    WHITE_UNDERLINED("\033[4;37m"),     // WHITE

    // Background
    BLACK_BACKGROUND("\033[40m"),   // BLACK
    RED_BACKGROUND("\033[41m"),     // RED
    GREEN_BACKGROUND("\033[42m"),   // GREEN
    YELLOW_BACKGROUND("\033[43m"),  // YELLOW
    BLUE_BACKGROUND("\033[44m"),    // BLUE
    MAGENTA_BACKGROUND("\033[45m"), // MAGENTA
    CYAN_BACKGROUND("\033[46m"),    // CYAN
    WHITE_BACKGROUND("\033[47m"),   // WHITE

    // High Intensity
    BLACK_BRIGHT("\033[0;90m"),     // BLACK
    RED_BRIGHT("\033[0;91m"),       // RED
    GREEN_BRIGHT("\033[0;92m"),     // GREEN
    YELLOW_BRIGHT("\033[0;93m"),    // YELLOW
    BLUE_BRIGHT("\033[0;94m"),      // BLUE
    MAGENTA_BRIGHT("\033[0;95m"),   // MAGENTA
    CYAN_BRIGHT("\033[0;96m"),      // CYAN
    WHITE_BRIGHT("\033[0;97m"),     // WHITE

    // Bold High Intensity
    BLACK_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;90m"),    // BLACK
    RED_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;91m"),      // RED
    GREEN_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;92m"),    // GREEN
    YELLOW_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;93m"),   // YELLOW
    BLUE_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;94m"),     // BLUE
    MAGENTA_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;95m"),  // MAGENTA
    CYAN_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;96m"),     // CYAN
    WHITE_BOLD_BRIGHT("\033[1;97m"),    // WHITE

    // High Intensity backgrounds
    BLACK_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;100m"),     // BLACK
    RED_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;101m"),       // RED
    GREEN_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;102m"),     // GREEN
    YELLOW_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;103m"),    // YELLOW
    BLUE_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;104m"),      // BLUE
    MAGENTA_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;105m"),   // MAGENTA
    CYAN_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;106m"),      // CYAN
    WHITE_BACKGROUND_BRIGHT("\033[0;107m");     // WHITE

    private final String code;

    Color(String code) {
        this.code = code;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return code;
    }
}

And now we will make a small example:

class RunApp {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.print(Color.BLACK_BOLD);
        System.out.println("Black_Bold");
        System.out.print(Color.RESET);

        System.out.print(Color.YELLOW);
        System.out.print(Color.BLUE_BACKGROUND);
        System.out.println("YELLOW & BLUE");
        System.out.print(Color.RESET);

        System.out.print(Color.YELLOW);
        System.out.println("YELLOW");
        System.out.print(Color.RESET);
    }
}

Solution 5

A fairly portable way of doing it is with the raw escape sequences. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code

[edited for user9999999 on 2017-02-20]

Java doesn't "handle the codes", that's true, but Java outputs what you told it to output. it's not Java's fault that the Windows console treats ESC (chr(27)) as just another glyph (←).

View more solutions

490,081

Author by

Taranath Datta

Updated on February 12, 2022

Comments

Taranath Datta over 2 years

How can I print color in console? I want to show data in colors when the processor sends data and in different colors when it receives data.
Boro about 13 years

@WhiteFang34 Can you please explain what is the use of RESET if its color is BLACK, at least in my console? Is it like a default or sth.?
WhiteFang34 about 13 years

@Boro: the reset code turns off all ANSI attributes set so far, which should return the console to its defaults. It's useful if you don't know the default color or are also using some of the other attributes like background color, font styles, etc.
Danny Lo about 10 years

jansi is really great! for those who develop in eclipse, i can reccomend this plugin: mihai-nita.net/2013/06/03/eclipse-plugin-ansi-in-console and nice piece of code to enable color if the code isn't being executed in console: if (System.console() == null) System.setProperty("jansi.passthrough", "true");
Pankaj Nimgade over 9 years

@WhiteFang34 i am using windows and for some reason it is not working
Felix Edelmann over 8 years

@PankajNimgade, read the answer again and you'll maybe notice this: however it doesn't work for Windows command prompt
simpleuser over 7 years

which doesn't work because the Java IO layer does not convert those to colors. System.out.println((char)27 + "[31;1mERROR" + (char)27 + "[0m" only yields "[31;1mERROR[0m" when run from a windows cmd.com as an executable .jar
jcomeau_ictx over 7 years

the question wasn't tagged windows. the Windows console was never ANSI-compliant that I remember.
simpleuser about 7 years

but the issue is that java isn't handling the codes, regardless of cmd.com's support
jcomeau_ictx about 7 years

see edited answer. Java is doing exactly as it's told. the problem is the non-ANSI-compliant console.
Stéphane GRILLON about 6 years

I have same problem
morbac about 6 years

It doesn't work on Windows it you're using cmd or powershell. Instead, you can use another console emulator. For instance, it works successfully with Cmder (cmder.net)
morbac about 6 years

look at cmder.net ; this console works fine on Windows and allows colored text
Martin Krajčírovič almost 6 years

Someone shall notice that when copy pasting these colors into NetBeans will result with one extra slash added by NetBeans... So don't be super mad like me while trying this out :D
firephil about 5 years

Maven uses this library to have colour in the console on any Operating system fusesource.github.io/jansi
jw_ over 4 years

Doesn't work on eclipse Java version: 2018-12 (4.10.0) console windows during debugging. Indeed I want to output red text, for this purpose you can use System.err.println
help-info.de over 4 years

The "downvote" isn't mine - but, there are other answers that provide the OP's question, and they were posted some time ago. When posting an answer see: How do I write a good answer?, please make sure you add either a new solution, or a substantially better explanation, especially when answering older questions.
David over 4 years

@iSahil this probably got downvoted because simply writing to standard error doesn't explicitly color anything. Many IDEs and consoles will interpret error messages and print them in red or similar, but that's not something you can rely on.
dialex over 4 years

This is a copy of answer stackoverflow.com/a/45444716/675577
Maude over 4 years

While this wasn't the direct answer to the question asked above, this was the answer I was looking for when searching for "java print in red console". Thus, I do feel like it has it's place on this page.
Captain Jack Sparrow over 4 years

@DannyLo Thank you so much for the link to the Eclipse plugin!
dan1st about 4 years

As far as I know, it should work with newer versions of windows 10 in conhost too as it supports ansi codes.
Alexander Stohr over 3 years

On Windows the Cygwin console does the job. Also when using piplines with e.g. "tee" then the ANSI color codes see interpretation and maybe effects as well. Byond color codes the ANSI escapes can also do e.g. cursor control.
Alexander Stohr over 3 years

this might need UTF or similar support. you are only providing the final results, not the things the coder needs to do for that. the answer might break the box of what the question spanned up.
M.A.S over 3 years

If I have public static final String ANSI_RED = "\u001B[31m"; , how can I later get the color used for this specific String ? something like ANSI_RED.getColor(); ? which I would want to return to me Color.RED
AmigoJack about 3 years

No, the variable has to be in the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console directly - do not create another key VirtualTerminalLevel in there.
meredrica over 2 years

printing to a different output stream just for color will get you in a multitude of problems
dialex over 2 years

Downvoted, for the reasons mentioned by Alexander
Mojtaba Hosseini over 2 years

Added instructions for how to use emojis in different operating systems. @dialex
Mojtaba Hosseini over 2 years

@AlexanderStohr I have added some more instructions. please tell me if you find any issues or better than that if you find solutions to complete the answer for the community 🙏
Avec over 2 years

Nice. Works as expected.
Avec over 2 years

@M.A.S You could just create an Enum with all the unicode ASNI values.
aymens about 2 years

So wonderful! I loved it! Thank you! :)
CharlesC about 2 years

worked great in IntelliJ console, thank you!
Enderbyte09 about 2 years

You can get colour in Windows cmd by running "color"
Anshuman Chatterjee about 2 years

For WINDOWS 10 users, you will need to ENABLE_VIRTUAL_TERMINAL_PROCESSING stackoverflow.com/questions/52767585/…