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
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