# Erase in Display (ED)
> Erase part or all of the screen.
- **Sequence:** `CSI Ps J`
- **Defaults:** Ps = 0
- **ECMA-48:** [§8.3.39 ED – Erase in Page, p. 41](https://archive.org/details/ecma-48-5th-edition-june-1991/page/n54/mode/1up)
- **DEC STD 070:** [§5.11 Erase in Display, p. 5-156](https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decstandar0VideoSystemsReferenceManualDec91_74264381/page/n410/mode/1up)
- **VT510:** [ED—Erase in Display](https://vt100.net/docs/vt510-rm/ED.html)
Erase some of the screen, chosen by `Ps`:
| `Ps` | Erases |
| --- | --- |
| `0` | from the cursor to the end of the screen, the cursor's cell included |
| `1` | from the start of the screen to the cursor, the cursor's cell included |
| `2` | the whole screen |
| `3` | the scrollback, which is not on the screen (an xterm extension) |
The cursor does not move. Erasing ignores the margins; it is the screen that
is erased, not the scrolling region.
An erased cell takes the current background color, set with [SGR](https://control-codes.page/csi/sgr/index.html.md),
rather than the default. That is *background color erase*, and is why
programs reset SGR before clearing the screen.
## Validation
### ED-1: Below
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e#8 # fill with E
\e[2;2H
\e[J
```
Expected screen:
```text
|EEEE|
|E___|
|____|
cursor 2,2
```
### ED-2: Above
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e#8 # fill with E
\e[2;2H
\e[1J
```
Expected screen:
```text
|____|
|__EE|
|EEEE|
cursor 2,2
```
### ED-3: Everything
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e#8 # fill with E
\e[2;2H
\e[2J
```
Expected screen:
```text
|____|
|____|
|____|
cursor 2,2
```
### ED-4: With a background color
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e[44m # blue background
\e[2J
```
Expected screen:
```text
|____|
|____|
attr 1,1 bg=4
attr 2,4 bg=4
```
---
This is the Markdown version of . On that page every validation case runs live in libghostty-vt, the terminal emulation core of Ghostty, compiled to WebAssembly.
The validation cases are written in the notation described in .