---
title: "When Color is Used"
id: color-when
pg_version: "20devel"
---

<a id="color-when"></a>

## N.1. When Color is Used

To use colorized output, set the environment variable PG_COLOR as follows: 
1.  If the value is `always`, then color is used. 
2.  If the value is `auto` and the standard error stream is associated with a terminal device, then color is used. 
3.  Otherwise, color is not used.