How do I write a backslash (\) in a string?

I want to write something like this C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Tasks in a textbox:

txtPath.Text = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments)+"\Tasks";

I get the error:

> Unrecognized escape sequence.

How do I write a backslash in a string?

The backslash ("\") character is a special escape character used to indicate other special characters such as new lines (\n), tabs (\t), or quotation marks (\").

If you want to include a backslash character itself, you need two backslashes or use the @ verbatim string:

var s = "\\Tasks";
// or 
var s = @"\Tasks";

Read the MSDN documentation/C# Specification which discusses the characters that are escaped using the backslash character and the use of the verbatim string literal.

Generally speaking, most C# .NET developers tend to favour using the @ verbatim strings when building file/folder paths since it saves them from having to write double backslashes all the time and they can directly copy/paste the path, so I would suggest that you get in the habit of doing the same.

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That all said, in this case, I would actually recommend you use the Path.Combine utility method as in @lordkain's answer as then you don't need to worry about whether backslashes are already included in the paths and accidentally doubling-up the slashes or omitting them altogether when combining parts of paths.

To escape the backslash, simply use 2 of them, like this: \\

If you need to escape other things, this may be helpful..

There is a special function made for this Path.Combine()

var folder = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);
var fullpath = path.Combine(folder,"Tasks");

Just escape the "\" by using + "\\Tasks" or use a verbatim string like @"\Tasks"

The previous answer is correct but in this specific case I would recommend using the System.IO.Path.Combine method.

You can find more details here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fyy7a5kt.aspx

txtPath.Text = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments)+"\\\Tasks";

Put a double backslash instead of a single backslash...

even though this post is quite old I tried something that worked for my case .

I wanted to create a string variable with the value below:

21541_12_1_13\":null

so my approach was like that:

• build the string using verbatim

  string substring = @"21541_12_1_13"":null";

• and then remove the unwanted backslashes using Remove function

  string newsubstring = substring.Remove(13, 1);

Hope that helps. Cheers