SIGINT Signal Explained (Signal 2)
What the Linux SIGINT signal does and when it's used.
Published October 23, 2026
SIGINT (signal number 2) interrupts a running process, most commonly sent when a user presses Ctrl+C.
Key points
- Can be caught and handled by the process, unlike SIGKILL
- Terminal-based applications commonly override the default SIGINT handling to confirm before quitting