DECSTR — Soft Terminal Reset

Sequence	CSI ! p
Bytes	0x1B 0x5B 0x21 0x70
Mnemonic	DECSTR
Otty support	✓

Description

Resets the terminal state without wiping the screen. Restores:

• SGR attributes to defaults
• Cursor visibility, cursor style
• DECOM, DECAWM, application keypad mode
• Saved cursor (DECSC) is cleared
• Scrolling region restored to full screen
• All DEC private modes restored to their power-on defaults

What it does not touch: visible screen contents, scrollback, tab stops, character set assignments.

Use DECSTR after a misbehaving program leaves the terminal in a weird state. Preferred over RIS (full reset) in most situations.

Example

printf '\e[!p'        # soft reset

Related

• RIS