diff --git a/atuin-common/src/utils.rs b/atuin-common/src/utils.rs
index 59050b96..b6018fbb 100644
--- a/atuin-common/src/utils.rs
+++ b/atuin-common/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::env;
+use std::fmt::Write;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
 use rand::RngCore;
@@ -100,6 +102,34 @@ pub fn is_bash() -> bool {
     env::var("ATUIN_SHELL_BASH").is_ok()
 }
 
+/// Extension trait for anything that can behave like a string to make it easy to escape control
+/// characters.
+///
+/// Intended to help prevent control characters being printed and interpreted by the terminal when
+/// printing history as well as to ensure the commands that appear in the interactive search
+/// reflect the actual command run rather than just the printable characters.
+pub trait Escapable: AsRef<str> {
+    fn escape_control(&self) -> Cow<str> {
+        if !self.as_ref().contains(|c: char| c.is_ascii_control()) {
+            self.as_ref().into()
+        } else {
+            let mut remaining = self.as_ref();
+            // Not a perfect way to reserve space but should reduce the allocations
+            let mut buf = String::with_capacity(remaining.as_bytes().len());
+            while let Some(i) = remaining.find(|c: char| c.is_ascii_control()) {
+                // safe to index with `..i`, `i` and `i+1..` as part[i] is a single byte ascii char
+                buf.push_str(&remaining[..i]);
+                let _ = write!(&mut buf, "\\x{:02x}", remaining.as_bytes()[i]);
+                remaining = &remaining[i + 1..];
+            }
+            buf.push_str(remaining);
+            buf.into()
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: AsRef<str>> Escapable for T {}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use time::Month;
@@ -183,4 +213,34 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(uuids.len(), how_many);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn escape_control_characters() {
+        use super::Escapable;
+        // CSI colour sequence
+        assert_eq!("\x1b[31mfoo".escape_control(), "\\x1b[31mfoo");
+
+        // Tabs count as control chars
+        assert_eq!("foo\tbar".escape_control(), "foo\\x09bar");
+
+        // space is in control char range but should be excluded
+        assert_eq!("two words".escape_control(), "two words");
+
+        // unicode multi-byte characters
+        let s = "🐢\x1b[32m🦀";
+        assert_eq!(s.escape_control(), s.replace("\x1b", "\\x1b"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn escape_no_control_characters() {
+        use super::Escapable as _;
+        assert!(matches!(
+            "no control characters".escape_control(),
+            Cow::Borrowed(_)
+        ));
+        assert!(matches!(
+            "with \x1b[31mcontrol\x1b[0m characters".escape_control(),
+            Cow::Owned(_)
+        ));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/atuin/src/command/client/history.rs b/atuin/src/command/client/history.rs
index 10f1feb6..4178180c 100644
--- a/atuin/src/command/client/history.rs
+++ b/atuin/src/command/client/history.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use std::{
     time::Duration,
 };
 
-use atuin_common::utils;
+use atuin_common::utils::{self, Escapable as _};
 use clap::Subcommand;
 use eyre::{Context, Result};
 use runtime_format::{FormatKey, FormatKeyError, ParseSegment, ParsedFmt};
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ impl FormatKey for FmtHistory<'_> {
     #[allow(clippy::cast_sign_loss)]
     fn fmt(&self, key: &str, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> Result<(), FormatKeyError> {
         match key {
-            "command" => f.write_str(self.0.command.trim())?,
+            "command" => f.write_str(&self.0.command.trim().escape_control())?,
             "directory" => f.write_str(self.0.cwd.trim())?,
             "exit" => f.write_str(&self.0.exit.to_string())?,
             "duration" => {
diff --git a/atuin/src/command/client/search.rs b/atuin/src/command/client/search.rs
index 726da348..0e8e0205 100644
--- a/atuin/src/command/client/search.rs
+++ b/atuin/src/command/client/search.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use atuin_common::utils;
+use atuin_common::utils::{self, Escapable as _};
 use clap::Parser;
 use eyre::Result;
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ impl Cmd {
 
         if self.interactive {
             let item = interactive::history(&self.query, settings, db).await?;
-            eprintln!("{item}");
+            eprintln!("{}", item.escape_control());
         } else {
             let list_mode = ListMode::from_flags(self.human, self.cmd_only);
 
diff --git a/atuin/src/command/client/search/history_list.rs b/atuin/src/command/client/search/history_list.rs
index de4b46ce..39c1dc32 100644
--- a/atuin/src/command/client/search/history_list.rs
+++ b/atuin/src/command/client/search/history_list.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use atuin_client::history::History;
+use atuin_common::utils::Escapable as _;
 use ratatui::{
     buffer::Buffer,
     layout::Rect,
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ impl DrawState<'_> {
             style = style.fg(Color::Red).add_modifier(Modifier::BOLD);
         }
 
-        for section in h.command.split_ascii_whitespace() {
+        for section in h.command.escape_control().split_ascii_whitespace() {
             self.x += 1;
             if self.x > self.list_area.width {
                 // Avoid attempting to draw a command section beyond the width
diff --git a/atuin/src/command/client/stats.rs b/atuin/src/command/client/stats.rs
index 55844ce7..e990b70b 100644
--- a/atuin/src/command/client/stats.rs
+++ b/atuin/src/command/client/stats.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 
+use atuin_common::utils::Escapable as _;
 use clap::Parser;
 use crossterm::style::{Color, ResetColor, SetAttribute, SetForegroundColor};
 use eyre::{bail, Result};
@@ -66,7 +67,10 @@ fn compute_stats(settings: &Settings, history: &[History], count: usize) -> Resu
             print!(" ");
         }
 
-        println!("{ResetColor}] {gray}{count:num_pad$}{ResetColor} {bold}{command}{ResetColor}");
+        println!(
+            "{ResetColor}] {gray}{count:num_pad$}{ResetColor} {bold}{}{ResetColor}",
+            command.escape_control()
+        );
     }
     println!("Total commands:   {}", history.len());
     println!("Unique commands:  {unique}");