Regex Literal Escape
Paste any text and get it back escaped so a regex engine matches it literally — with the exact rules of PCRE, JavaScript, Python, Go/RE2, .NET, Java, Ruby, or Rust. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
About this tool
Regex Literal Escape turns arbitrary text into a regex-safe literal, so the pattern matches the text itself instead of treating punctuation as regex syntax. It is useful when you interpolate user input into a larger pattern, build search tools, generate deny-list rules, or need to paste a literal URL/path into a regex tester.
Different engines escape different character sets, so the tool includes nine flavors:
- PCRE / PHP
preg_quote() - JavaScript's common
new RegExp()helper - JavaScript
RegExp.escape()strict escaping - Python
re.escape() - Go / RE2
regexp.QuoteMeta() - .NET
Regex.Escape() - Java
Pattern.quote() - Ruby
Regexp.escape() - Rust
regex::escape()
Use delimiter when your regex language also needs the pattern delimiter escaped, such as / in /.../. Turn on escape_whitespace for extended/free-spacing modes where a raw space can be ignored. Turn on string_literal when you want the escaped regex text double-escaped for a source-code string.
Worked example
Input:
a.b*c+(d)
With flavor=pcre, the output is:
a\.b\*c\+\(d\)
That pattern matches the literal characters a.b*c+(d), not "a, any character, b repeated, c, one or more...".
Limits and edge cases
- Input is capped at 100,000 characters.
- Java uses
\Q...\Equoting rather than backslash-prefixing each character. javascript-strictfollowsRegExp.escape()behavior and may emit\xNNfor the first letter or digit and for punctuation that cannot be safely backslash-escaped.- Alphanumeric, underscore, and whitespace delimiters are rejected because they can form ambiguous regex escapes.
FAQ
Why do different flavors produce different output?
Regex engines do not all treat punctuation the same way. For example, Go/RE2 leaves - and # alone, while PCRE and Rust escape them. Pick the flavor that matches the engine where you will run the pattern.
Should I enable string literal escaping?
Enable it only when you are pasting the result inside quoted source code, such as a JavaScript, C#, Java, or Go string. If you are pasting directly into a regex field or a raw string, leave it off so backslashes are not doubled.
What is the delimiter field for?
Some regex syntaxes wrap patterns in a delimiter, for example /literal/ in JavaScript or PHP. If your literal text can contain that delimiter, set delimiter=/ so the delimiter is escaped too.
Does this validate that my whole regex is correct?
No. This tool escapes literal text. It does not parse or validate a larger regex. Use the escaped output as one safe literal fragment inside your own pattern.
Developer & Automation Access
Run it from the terminal
Same engine as this page, headless — via the gizza CLI:
gizza tool regex-literal-escape "a.b*c+(d)"New to the CLI? Get gizza →
Open it by URL
Pre-fill and auto-run this tool with query parameters — the names match the API/CLI:
https://gizza.ai/tools/regex-literal-escape/?text=a.b%2Ac%2B%28d%29&flavor=pcre&delimiter=%2F&escape_whitespace=true&string_literal=trueMachine-readable descriptor: tool.json — title + parameters JSON Schema for agents.