fgets() in C (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 18 Oct, 2025

fgets() is a built-in function in <stdio.h> used to read a line of text from input.

• It stores the input into a character array and stops reading when it reaches a newline character, the specified number of characters, or end-of-file (EOF).
• It is safer than gets() because it prevents buffer overflow by limiting the number of characters read.
• We can use it to read a full line (including whitespace) from input, rather than stopping at the first space like scanf("%s", …) would. C `

#include <stdio.h>

int main() { char buff[100];
int n = 10;

printf("Enter a string: \n");

// Read input from the user
fgets(buff, n, stdin);
printf("You entered: %s", buff);
return 0;

}

`

**Output

Enter a string:
**This is Geeks {_entered by user}
You entered: This is Geeks

**Explanation : In this program, **fgets() reads will read up to **9 characters or until a **newline (\n) is encountered from the standard input (**stdin) and stores them in the array **buff, ensuring it is null-terminated.

**Syntax

C `

fgets(buff, n, stream);

`

**Parameters:

• **buff: Pointer to the string buffer where the input will be stored.
• **n: The maximum number of characters to read (including the null terminator).
• **stream: The input stream, typically **stdin for reading from the keyboard.

**Return Value:

• Returns the pointer to **buff if successful.
• Returns NULL if an error occurs or the end-of-file (EOF) is reached.

Examples of fgets()

The following examples demonstrate how to use the fgets() function in C programs:

Reading from a File

C `

#include <stdio.h>

int main() { FILE *fptr = fopen("in.txt", "r");

// Reading the file data using fgets() in the
// form of a block of size 30 bytes
char buff[30];
fgets(buff, sizeof(buff), fptr);
printf("%s", buff);

fclose(fptr);
return 0;

}

`

Assume that **in.txt contains the following data:

The quick brown fox jumps
over the lazy dog.
This sentence contains all letters
of English Alphabets.

**Output:

The quick brown fox jumps

Reading from Keyboard ( User Input )

C `

#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h>

int main() { char name[20];

printf("Enter your name: \n");
fgets(name, sizeof(name), stdin);

printf("Hello, %s", name);
return 0;

}

`

**Output

Enter your name:
**Abhishek //E_ntered by user
Hello, Abhishek

gets() vs fgets()

Following table lists the primary differences between the gets() and fgets() functions: