# How to split a string by new line in Java

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Nov 30, 2019. Topics: Java.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-split-string-new-line

> A short guide to learn how to split a string by new line in Java.

[Newline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newline) is **a control character** in character encoding specification that is used to signify the end of a line of text and the start of a new one. Every operating system has different newline. For example, UNIX and Mac OS have `\r` whereas Windows has `\r\n`.

In Java, you need to use `\\r?\\n` as a regular expression to [split a string into an array](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-string-split) by new line. Here is an example:

```java
// create a new string
String text = "Java" + "\r\n" +
        "is a" + "\n" +
        "server-side" + "\r\n" +
        "programming" + "\n" +
        "language.";

// split by new line
String[] tokens = text.split("\\r?\\n");

// print values
for (String t : tokens) {
    System.out.println(t);
}
```

The above code will produce the following output:

```bash
Java
is a
server-side
programming
language.
```