Bell character is an ASCII control character, code 7 (^G). When it is sent to a printer or a terminal, nothing is printed, but an audible signal is emitted instead. Terminal emulator windows often flash briefly to show the user where the alert occurred.

A bell code also exists in Baudot code, which has been used in teleprinters in some form since 1874. Sending a bell code would get the attention of the teleprinter operater at the other end of the line.

In the C programming language, the bell character is represented as '\a' ("alert" or "audible").

See also

• beep

Control characters | BEL