What is the difference between conversion specifiers %i and %d in formatted IO functions (*printf / *scanf)

They are the same when used for output, e.g. with printf.

However, these are different when used as input specifier e.g. with scanf, where %d scans an integer as a signed decimal number, but %i defaults to decimal but also allows hexadecimal (if preceded by 0x) and octal (if preceded by 0).

So 033 would be 27 with %i but 33 with %d.

These are identical for printf but different for scanf. For printf, both %d and %i designate a signed decimal integer. For scanf, %d and %i also means a signed integer but %i inteprets the input as a hexadecimal number if preceded by 0x and octal if preceded by 0 and otherwise interprets the input as decimal.

There is no difference between the %i and %d format specifiers for printf. We can see this by going to the draft C99 standard section 7.19.6.1 The fprintf function which also covers printf with respect to format specifiers and it says in paragraph 8:

The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:

and includes the following bullet:

d,i     The int argument is converted to signed decimal in the style        [−]dddd. The precision specifies the minimum number of digits to        appear; if the value being converted can be represented in fewer        digits, it is expanded with leading zeros. The default precision is        1. The result of converting a zero value with a precision of zero is        no characters.

On the other hand for scanf there is a difference, %d assume base 10 while %i auto detects the base. We can see this by going to section 7.19.6.2 The fscanf function which covers scanf with respect to format specifier, in paragraph 12 it says:

The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:

and includes the following:

d     Matches an optionally signed decimal integer, whose format is the      same as expected for the subject sequence of the strtol function with      the value 10 for the base argument. The corresponding argument shall      be a pointer to signed integer.i     Matches an optionally signed integer, whose format is the same as      expected for the subject sequence of the strtol function with the      value 0 for the base argument. The corresponding argument shall be a      pointer to signed integer.