Python ANSI Colors - Terminal Color Output with Print

Colored Terminal Output in Python

Python supports ANSI escape sequences natively in print statements. This guide covers both raw escape codes and popular library approaches.

Raw ANSI Escape Sequences

# Basic colors
print("\033[31mRed text\033[0m")
print("\033[1;32mBold green\033[0m")
print("\033[4;34mUnderlined blue\033[0m")

# 256 colors
print("\033[38;5;208mOrange text\033[0m")

# True color
print("\033[38;2;255;165;0mTrue orange\033[0m")

Color Constants Class

class Color:
    RED = "\033[31m"
    GREEN = "\033[32m"
    YELLOW = "\033[33m"
    BLUE = "\033[34m"
    MAGENTA = "\033[35m"
    CYAN = "\033[36m"
    BOLD = "\033[1m"
    DIM = "\033[2m"
    UNDERLINE = "\033[4m"
    RESET = "\033[0m"

    @staticmethod
    def rgb(r, g, b):
        return f"\033[38;2;{r};{g};{b}m"

    @staticmethod
    def bg_rgb(r, g, b):
        return f"\033[48;2;{r};{g};{b}m"

# Usage
print(f"{Color.RED}Error: File not found{Color.RESET}")
print(f"{Color.BOLD}{Color.GREEN}Success!{Color.RESET}")
print(f"{Color.rgb(255, 165, 0)}Custom orange{Color.RESET}")

Using f-strings with Colors

def colored(text, code):
    return f"\033[{code}m{text}\033[0m"

# Semantic helpers
def error(msg): return colored(msg, "1;31")
def success(msg): return colored(msg, "1;32")
def warning(msg): return colored(msg, "1;33")
def info(msg): return colored(msg, "1;36")

print(error("Build failed"))
print(success("All 42 tests passed"))
print(warning("Deprecated API used"))

Windows Compatibility

On Windows, ANSI escape codes require enabling Virtual Terminal Processing:

import os
import sys

# Enable ANSI on Windows 10+
if sys.platform == "win32":
    os.system("")  # Simple trick to enable ANSI support

# Or use colorama for broader Windows support
# pip install colorama
# from colorama import init
# init()

Conditional Colors

import sys

USE_COLOR = sys.stdout.isatty() and os.environ.get("NO_COLOR") is None

def maybe_color(text, code):
    if USE_COLOR:
        return f"\033[{code}m{text}\033[0m"
    return text