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In this tutorial, we will look at two ways to clear the console screen in Java. We will learn how to execute Java clear screen commands at runtime through examples.

Clearing the console using ANSI escape codes in Java

We can use special codes called ANSI escape sequences to change the cursor position or display different colors. These sequences can be interpreted as commands composed of a combination of bytes and characters.

To clear the console in Java, we will use escape codes \033[H\033[2J. This strange set of characters represents the command to clear the console. To understand it better, we can break it down.

The first four characters \033, , mean , ESCor the escape character. Combined with 033and [H, we can move the cursor to a specific location. The last character, 033[2J, clears the entire screen.

We can look at the following example, which uses these escape codes. We also use System.out.flush(), when using System.out.print(), it is specifically used to clear the remaining bytes so that nothing is missed on the console screen.

For example.

public class ClearConsoleScreen {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.print("Everything on the console will cleared");
    System.out.print("\033[H\033[2J");
    System.out.flush();
  }
}

ProcessBuilderClear the console in Java using

In this method, we will use a ProcessBuilder, which is a class mainly used to start the process. We can establish a process with a command to clean up the console.

ProcessBuilder()Receives the command to be executed and its parameters. The problem with this approach is that different operating systems can have different commands to clear the console screen. That's why in our example we check the current operating system.

Finally, we Processstart a new process using the class and inheritIOset the standard input and output channels to Java I/O channels.

public class ClearScreen {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Hello World");
    ClearConsole();
  }

  public static void ClearConsole() {
    try {
      String operatingSystem = System.getProperty("os.name") // Check the current operating system

                               if (operatingSystem.contains("Windows")) {
        ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("cmd", "/c", "cls");
        Process startProcess = pb.inheritIO.start();
        startProcess.waitFor();
      }
      else {
        ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("clear");
        Process startProcess = pb.inheritIO.start();

        startProcess.waitFor();
      }
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }
}