SIGTSTP Signal Explained (Signal 20)
What the Linux SIGTSTP signal does and when it's used.
Published October 24, 2026
SIGTSTP (signal number 20) requests a process suspend itself, typically triggered by Ctrl+Z; unlike SIGSTOP, it can be caught and handled.
Key points
- Suspends a foreground process to the background, where it can later be resumed with the "fg" or "bg" shell commands