C# defines the following character escape sequences:

  • \' - single quote, needed for character literals
  • \" - double quote, needed for string literals
  • \\ - backslash
  • \0 - Unicode character 0
  • \a - Alert (character 7)
  • \b - Backspace (character 8)
  • \f - Form feed (character 12)
  • \n - New line (character 10)
  • \r - Carriage return (character 13)
  • \t - Horizontal tab (character 9)
  • \v - Vertical quote (character 11)
  • \uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx
  • \xn[n][n][n] - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn (variable length version of \uxxxx)
  • \Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx (for generating surrogates)

Of these, \a, \f, \v, \x and \U are rarely used in my experience.

[Author: Jon Skeet]