Maybe use \033[L (ANSI for insert-line). Edit: If I understand what you're doing, then maybe you can use this: tput ind; tput home; tput il1; echo -n "hea

Maybe use \033[L (ANSI for insert-line). Edit: If I understand what you're doing, then maybe you can use this: tput ind; tput home; tput il1; echo -n "header"; tput el; tput cup $LINES 0 Use "man terminfo" to lookup things like "il1" and use "infocmp" to see what they translate to in your terminal.