we need to escape it. answered Nov 9 '09 at 15:45. how to remove single backslash from string in java, To avoid this sort of trouble, you can use replace (which takes a plain string) instead of replaceAll (which takes a regular expression). Sometimes logical solutions can be unintuitive. Java Regex - Example - Character \\ Match - The character \\ matches the backslash character present in a text. It does not show backslash in the console but it does in the return value. We use escape characters to perform some specific task. A Java regular expression syntax uses the backslash character as escape character, just like Java Strings do. So new RegExp gets a string without backslashes. If you want to replace a single backslash in Java using replaceAll there are multiple layers of escaping that leads to four backslashes as an argument for replaceAll.. The regex language has its own escape sequence on top of the Java string literal escape sequence. You will still need to escape backslashes, but not in the wild ways required with regular expressions. The Backslash as an Escape Character: 18.4.4. So to match a backslash, you need \\ in the regex and thus \\\\ in the Java string literal. The String#replaceAll() interprets the argument as a regular expression.The \ is an escape character in both String and regex.You need to double-escape it for regex: string.replaceAll("\\", "\\\\"); But you don’t necessarily need regex for this, simply because you want an exact character-by-character replacement and you don’t need patterns here. See this link please: link. Backslashes. Hyphen. A character with a backslash (\) just before it is an escape sequence or escape character. Escaping (outside character classes) Is the back slash escaped or do I need to try any other way. The list of Java escape sequences: Why will we need Escape sequence? text.replaceAll(Pattern.quote(regex), Matcher.quoteReplacement(replacement)); Using the following way, we can easily replace a backslash in Java. This gives a little challenge when writing a regular expression in a Java string. The total number of escape sequences or escape characters in Java is 8. In this case you could also use Pattern.quote. improve this answer. In order to use a literal backslash anywhere in a regex, it must be escaped by another backslash. Each escape character is a valid character literal. Backslash escapes and backslash brings; it actually toggles on or off the metacharacter vs. literal status of the character in front of it. Convert a name in the form 'first middle last' into the 'last, middle first' format Backslash escapes and backslash brings; it actually toggles on or off the metacharacter vs. literal status of the character in front of it. Is it possible to escape backslash using regular expression because "replace function " does not seem to make a difference in output. Saying that backslash is the "escape" character is a bit misleading. Saying that backslash is the "escape" character is a bit misleading. In order to use a literal backslash anywhere in a regex, it must be escaped by another backslash. The important point you need to note is that a single \\ is substituted as single backslash i.e. Hi, I am trying to escape backslash using regular expression in javascript. REGEXP_REPLACE(x, pattern [, replace_string [, start [, occurrence [, match_option]]]]) searches x for pattern and replace it with replace_string: 18.4.5. String quotes “consume” backslashes and interpret them on their own, for instance: \n – becomes a newline character, \u1234 – becomes the Unicode character with such code, …And when there’s no special meaning: like \d or \z, then the backslash is simply removed. 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