ASCII·SYN
22
SYN
0x16 · 0010110

ASCII 22 — the SYN character

Not a visible character

SYN is control code 22, hex 16. You type it as ^V, and it draws nothing on screen.

Characters that draw nothing and instead tell the device to do something.

What this control code did

Synchronous idle

Transmission · Codes that marked where a message began and ended, and whether it arrived.

Seven bits

ASCII is seven bits wide, which is why there are 128 of them. The eighth bit was long left for parity.

0010110

One bit — the sixth, worth 32 — separates the cases. Off gives a capital, on gives a lowercase letter.

Kind
Control
Decimal
22
Hexadecimal
0x16
Octal
026
Binary
0010110
HTML entity

URL encoding
%16
CSS escape
\16
Ctrl key
^V

The chart

Eight columns for the top three bits, sixteen rows for the bottom four. The capitals column sits right beside the lowercase one — that is the shape of the table.

Codes either side

How to read this

  • Add 32 to a capital and you get the lowercase letter — one bit flips.
  • Digits start at 48, so subtracting 48 from the code gives the number.
  • Holding Ctrl clears the top three bits — that is why Ctrl+I is a tab.
  • Everything under 32, plus 127, draws nothing. Those show their abbreviation instead.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is the ASCII code for SYN?

Decimal 22, hex 16, octal 026, binary 0010110.

Q. How do I write SYN in HTML?

As .

Q. How does it go in a URL?

It is encoded as %16.

Q. How do I type SYN?

^V.