Ok, forgot the global flag, and forgot to tell you how to do multiple substitutions: [~] %% echo "$ATTACHMENTS" | sed -e 's/ /\\ /g' -e 's/a/\\a/g' /Users/victor/Documents/Eudor\a\ Folder/Att\achments\ Folder V. -- Victor Eijkhout 329 Claxton complex, 865 974 9308 http://cs.utk.edu/~eijkhout/