CHVT(1) General Commands Manual CHVT(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

chvt - change foreground virtual terminal

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**chvt** \[*option*...] \[*N*]

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

The command **chvt** *N* makes */dev/ttyN* the foreground terminal. (The corresponding screen is created if it did not exist yet. To get rid of unused VTs, use [**deallocvt**(1)](/man/os/kbd/deallocvt.1).) The key combination (Ctrl-)LeftAlt-F*N* (with *N* in the range 1-12) usually has a similar effect.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**-C**, **--console**=*DEV*](#C)

the console device to be used.

[**-V**, **--version**](#V)

print version number.

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

print this usage message.

# [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS)

Andries Brouwer &lt;aeb@cwi.nl&gt;

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**deallocvt**(1)](/man/os/kbd/deallocvt.1), [**openvt**(1)](/man/os/kbd/openvt.1)

24 October 2024 kbd

---

Document: chvt(1) from kbd 2.10.0-r4 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/legionus/kbd
