diff --git a/RSYNC_COMPAT.md b/RSYNC_COMPAT.md
index 4b236ec..71e3e1f 100644
--- a/RSYNC_COMPAT.md
+++ b/RSYNC_COMPAT.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ This document maps rsync's full feature set to FastSync's current implementation
 | `--out-format=FORMAT` | Custom output format | ❌ Not Implemented | Removed because it had no effect |
 | `--log-file=FILE` | Log to file | ✅ Implemented | `log_file` config field |
 | `--log-file-format=FMT` | Log format | ❌ Not Implemented | |
-| `--8-bit-output` | Leave high-bit chars unescaped | ❌ Not Implemented | |
+| `--8-bit-output`, `-8` | Leave high-bit chars unescaped | ✅ Implemented | Applies to displayed paths and protocol debug output |
 | `--list-only` | List files instead of copying | ❌ Not Implemented | Removed because it had no effect |
 
 ## 3. File Selection
diff --git a/src/client/client_cli.c b/src/client/client_cli.c
index 191cc07..266ec64 100644
--- a/src/client/client_cli.c
+++ b/src/client/client_cli.c
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ static const OptionEntry OPTION_TABLE[] = {
     {"--sparse", "-S", OPT_FLAG, offsetof(Config, preserve_sparse)},
     {"--inplace", NULL, OPT_FLAG, offsetof(Config, inplace)},
     {"--checksum", NULL, OPT_FLAG, offsetof(Config, checksum)},
+    {"--8-bit-output", "-8", OPT_FLAG, offsetof(Config, eight_bit_output)},
 
     {"--source-dir", NULL, OPT_STRING, offsetof(Config, send_directory)},
     {"--dest-dir", NULL, OPT_STRING, offsetof(Config, receive_root_directory)},
@@ -210,6 +211,7 @@ static int apply_table_option(Config* config, const OptionEntry* entry, const ch
 /* Parse CLI arguments into config. Returns 0 on success, -1 on error, 1 for help/clean-exit. */
 int parse_args(Config* config, int argc, char* argv[], int* positional_args,
                int* positional_count) {
+  log_set_8_bit_output(config->eight_bit_output);
   for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
     const OptionEntry* entry = find_table_option(argv[i]);
     if (entry) {
@@ -223,6 +225,8 @@ int parse_args(Config* config, int argc, char* argv[], int* positional_args,
       } else if (apply_table_option(config, entry, NULL) != 0) {
         return -1;
       }
+      if (entry->offset == offsetof(Config, eight_bit_output))
+        log_set_8_bit_output(true);
       continue;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/client/client_send.c b/src/client/client_send.c
index 0b4ca5c..111e2c1 100644
--- a/src/client/client_send.c
+++ b/src/client/client_send.c
@@ -137,7 +137,14 @@ static int send_dry_run_manifest(const Config* config) {
   printf("Dry run: files to be transferred\n");
   while ((chunk = directory_scanner_next(scanner)) != NULL) {
     for (int i = 0; i < chunk->element_count; i++) {
-      printf("  %s (%zu bytes)\n", chunk->items[i]->path, chunk->items[i]->data->size);
+      char* escaped_path = output_escape(chunk->items[i]->path, config->eight_bit_output);
+      if (!escaped_path) {
+        chunk_destroy(chunk);
+        directory_scanner_destroy(scanner);
+        return -1;
+      }
+      printf("  %s (%zu bytes)\n", escaped_path, chunk->items[i]->data->size);
+      free(escaped_path);
       total_bytes += chunk->items[i]->data->size;
       file_count++;
     }
diff --git a/src/client/usage.c b/src/client/usage.c
index 2f800af..4d495cd 100644
--- a/src/client/usage.c
+++ b/src/client/usage.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ void print_usage(void) {
   printf("  -n, --dry-run       Show what would be transferred\n");
   printf("  -p <port>           SSH port (default: 22)\n");
   printf("  --progress          Show transfer progress\n");
+  printf("  -8, --8-bit-output  Leave high-bit characters unescaped in output\n");
   printf("  --delete            Delete files on receiver not in source\n");
   printf("  --exclude <pattern> Exclude files matching pattern\n");
   printf("  --include <pattern> Only include files matching pattern\n");
diff --git a/src/shared/config.c b/src/shared/config.c
index efc2708..6468503 100644
--- a/src/shared/config.c
+++ b/src/shared/config.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ static void config_set_defaults(Config* config) {
   config->debug_level = 0;
   config->list_only = false;
   config->human_readable = false;
+  config->eight_bit_output = false;
   config->update = false;
   config->inplace = false;
   config->append = false;
diff --git a/src/shared/config.h b/src/shared/config.h
index 4a218b0..92df6ea 100644
--- a/src/shared/config.h
+++ b/src/shared/config.h
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ typedef struct Config {
   int debug_level;
   bool list_only;
   bool human_readable;
+  bool eight_bit_output;
 
   // Issue #127: Transfer modes
   bool update;
diff --git a/src/shared/log.c b/src/shared/log.c
index 29bbe0d..bf11296 100644
--- a/src/shared/log.c
+++ b/src/shared/log.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 static const char* log_level_strings[] = {"DEBUG", "INFO", "WARN", "ERROR"};
 static LogLevel current_log_level = LOG_LEVEL_WARNING;
 static FILE* log_fp = NULL;
+static bool eight_bit_output = false;
 
 void set_log_level(LogLevel level) {
   current_log_level = level;
@@ -17,6 +18,14 @@ void log_set_file(FILE* fp) {
   log_fp = fp;
 }
 
+void log_set_8_bit_output(bool enabled) {
+  eight_bit_output = enabled;
+}
+
+bool log_get_8_bit_output(void) {
+  return eight_bit_output;
+}
+
 static inline void write_message(FILE* dest_io, LogLevel log_level, struct tm t, const char* format,
                                  va_list args) {
   fprintf(dest_io, "%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d:%02d [%s]: ", t.tm_year + 1900, t.tm_mon + 1,
diff --git a/src/shared/log.h b/src/shared/log.h
index acea629..704659b 100644
--- a/src/shared/log.h
+++ b/src/shared/log.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #define LOG_H
 
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 
 typedef enum { LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, LOG_LEVEL_INFO, LOG_LEVEL_WARNING, LOG_LEVEL_ERROR } LogLevel;
 
@@ -9,5 +10,7 @@ void log_message(LogLevel log_level, const char* message, ...);
 void log_perror(const char* context);
 void set_log_level(LogLevel level);
 void log_set_file(FILE* fp);
+void log_set_8_bit_output(bool enabled);
+bool log_get_8_bit_output(void);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/shared/protocol.c b/src/shared/protocol.c
index d3e4aa3..728578a 100644
--- a/src/shared/protocol.c
+++ b/src/shared/protocol.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "protocol.h"
 #include "log.h"
+#include "utils.h"
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <openssl/ssl.h>
@@ -328,7 +329,9 @@ bool protocol_send_str(ProtocolSession* session, const char* data) {
     return false;
   if (!protocol_send_n_data(session, data, size))
     return false;
-  log_message(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, "Send String: %s", data);
+  char* escaped = output_escape(data, log_get_8_bit_output());
+  log_message(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, "Send String: %s", escaped ? escaped : "<allocation failed>");
+  free(escaped);
   return true;
 }
 
@@ -356,7 +359,9 @@ char* protocol_receive_str(ProtocolSession* session) {
   }
   data[size] = '\0';
   session->total_allocated_bytes += size + 1;
-  log_message(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, "Received String: %s", data);
+  char* escaped = output_escape(data, log_get_8_bit_output());
+  log_message(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, "Received String: %s", escaped ? escaped : "<allocation failed>");
+  free(escaped);
   return data;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/shared/utils.c b/src/shared/utils.c
index 49c1367..3fe5851 100644
--- a/src/shared/utils.c
+++ b/src/shared/utils.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "array_list.h"
 #include "libgen.h"
+#include "log.h"
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
@@ -132,6 +133,32 @@ char* str_dup(const char* string) {
   return new_string;
 }
 
+char* output_escape(const char* string, bool eight_bit_output) {
+  if (!string)
+    return NULL;
+  size_t length = strlen(string);
+  if (length > (SIZE_MAX - 1) / 5)
+    return NULL;
+  char* escaped = malloc(length * 5 + 1);
+  if (!escaped)
+    return NULL;
+  size_t out = 0;
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+    unsigned char byte = (unsigned char)string[i];
+    if ((byte >= 32 && byte <= 126) || (eight_bit_output && byte >= 128)) {
+      escaped[out++] = (char)byte;
+    } else {
+      escaped[out++] = '\\';
+      escaped[out++] = '#';
+      escaped[out++] = (char)('0' + ((byte >> 6) & 7));
+      escaped[out++] = (char)('0' + ((byte >> 3) & 7));
+      escaped[out++] = (char)('0' + (byte & 7));
+    }
+  }
+  escaped[out] = '\0';
+  return escaped;
+}
+
 /* Match a glob pattern against a string. Supported wildcards:
  *   ?      matches any single character except '/'.
  *   *      matches any sequence of characters within one path component (no '/').
@@ -274,7 +301,9 @@ static bool delete_extras_fd(int dirfd, const char* rel_path, ArrayList* manifes
         } else {
           (*deleted_count)++;
         }
-        fprintf(stderr, "  Deleted: %s\n", child_rel);
+        char* escaped_path = output_escape(child_rel, log_get_8_bit_output());
+        fprintf(stderr, "  Deleted: %s\n", escaped_path ? escaped_path : "<allocation failed>");
+        free(escaped_path);
       }
     }
     free(child_rel);
diff --git a/src/shared/utils.h b/src/shared/utils.h
index 757d26f..aabea79 100644
--- a/src/shared/utils.h
+++ b/src/shared/utils.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 bool mkdir_r(const char* path);
 char* str_dup(const char* string);
+char* output_escape(const char* string, bool eight_bit_output);
 char* path_cat(const char* path1, const char* path2);
 bool glob_match(const char* pattern, const char* str);
 bool delete_extras(const char* dest_root, ArrayList* manifest);
diff --git a/tests/test_client_cli.c b/tests/test_client_cli.c
index 656fd40..55b99dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_client_cli.c
+++ b/tests/test_client_cli.c
@@ -281,7 +281,6 @@ static void test_parse_args_rejects_unimplemented_options() {
                                         "--debug",
                                         "--list-only",
                                         "-h",
-                                        "--human-readable",
                                         "-u",
                                         "--update",
                                         "--append",
diff --git a/tests/test_shared_utils.c b/tests/test_shared_utils.c
index 57b1c74..79813d8 100644
--- a/tests/test_shared_utils.c
+++ b/tests/test_shared_utils.c
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 void test_shared_utils() {
+  char high_bit[] = {'a', (char)0xc3, (char)0xa9, '\n', '\0'};
+  char* escaped = output_escape(high_bit, false);
+  EXPECT_EQ_STR(escaped, "a\\#303\\#251\\#012");
+  free(escaped);
+  escaped = output_escape(high_bit, true);
+  EXPECT_EQ_STR(escaped, "a\xc3\xa9\\#012");
+  free(escaped);
+
   // Test str_dup
   const char* dup_null = str_dup(NULL);
   EXPECT_NULL(dup_null);