📝 Tabs ↔ Spaces Converter
Professional indentation converter that switches between tabs and spaces while preserving code structure and alignment. Features auto-detection, custom tab widths (2, 4, 8 spaces), and intelligent alignment preservation perfect for developers standardizing code formatting across projects and teams.
Conversion Results:
Tabs → Spaces (4-space width)
25 lines processed • 12 tabs converted to 48 spaces
🔄 Before & After Comparison
Original (Tab-indented):
Converted (4-space indented):
Lines Processed
Total lines
Tabs Converted
Tab characters
Spaces Added
Space characters
Tab Width
Spaces per tab
🔍 Conversion Details
💡 Indentation Best Practices
Python/PEP 8: Use 4 spaces per indentation level
JavaScript/ESLint: Use 2 or 4 spaces consistently
HTML/CSS: Use 2 spaces for better readability
Makefiles: Must use tabs (no spaces allowed)
YAML: Must use spaces (no tabs allowed)
How to Use This Tabs ↔ Spaces Converter
How to Use the Tabs ↔ Spaces Converter
- Paste Your Code: Copy and paste your code or text that needs indentation conversion into the text area
- Select Conversion Mode: Choose whether to convert tabs to spaces, spaces to tabs, or auto-detect the best conversion
- Set Tab Width: Choose how many spaces equal one tab (2, 4, or 8 spaces are common standards)
- Enable Alignment Preservation: Check this to keep non-indentation tabs (in comments, data) unchanged
- Click "Convert Indentation": Process your text and see the converted result with statistics
- Review Results: Check the before/after comparison and conversion statistics
- Copy or Download: Use the copy button or download the converted text for your project
Pro Tips for Best Results:
- Use auto-detect mode when you're unsure about the current indentation style
- Enable alignment preservation for code with formatted comments or data tables
- Choose 4 spaces for Python (PEP 8 compliance) and most modern code standards
- Use normalize mixed mode to fix inconsistent indentation in messy code
- Test with a small sample before converting large files
How It Works
How the Tabs ↔ Spaces Conversion Works
Intelligent Conversion Algorithm
Our converter uses smart detection to identify and convert indentation while preserving code structure:
- Tab Detection: Identifies tab characters (\t) at the beginning of lines for indentation
- Space Pattern Analysis: Recognizes space-based indentation patterns (2, 4, 8 spaces)
- Auto-Detection Logic: Analyzes the entire text to determine the predominant indentation style
- Mixed Format Handling: Detects and normalizes inconsistent tab/space combinations
Alignment Preservation System
The "preserve alignment" feature intelligently distinguishes between indentation and formatting:
- Indentation Tabs: Tabs at line beginnings are converted according to your settings
- Alignment Tabs: Tabs used for aligning comments, data, or code are preserved
- Context Analysis: Uses surrounding characters to determine tab purpose
- Structure Maintenance: Keeps visual formatting intact while standardizing indentation
Tab Width Standards
Different programming languages and teams use different tab width conventions:
- 2 Spaces: Common in HTML, CSS, JSON - compact and readable
- 4 Spaces: Python PEP 8 standard, JavaScript, C++, Java - balanced readability
- 8 Spaces: Traditional Unix standard, Linux kernel - maximum clarity
- Auto-Detection: Analyzes existing patterns to maintain consistency
Conversion Modes Explained
- Tabs → Spaces: Replace all indentation tabs with the specified number of spaces
- Spaces → Tabs: Convert space-based indentation back to tab characters
- Auto-detect: Automatically determine the best conversion direction
- Normalize Mixed: Fix files with inconsistent tab/space combinations
When You Might Need This
- • Convert Python code from tabs to 4-space indentation for PEP 8 compliance
- • Standardize JavaScript project indentation across team members and IDEs
- • Fix mixed tab/space indentation causing syntax errors in Python or YAML
- • Convert legacy C/C++ code from 8-space to 4-space indentation for readability
- • Prepare code for platforms that require specific indentation (GitHub, GitLab)
- • Clean up copy-pasted code with inconsistent whitespace from different sources
- • Convert configuration files between tab and space formats for deployment
- • Standardize Makefile indentation to use tabs (required by Make syntax)
- • Fix YAML files that break with tab characters (YAML only allows spaces)
- • Normalize indentation in documentation files and README code examples
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between tabs and spaces for indentation?
Tabs are single characters that represent indentation levels, while spaces are individual space characters. Tabs can be displayed as different widths depending on editor settings, while spaces always maintain consistent width. Some languages like Python and YAML have strong preferences - Python works with both but PEP 8 recommends spaces, while YAML requires spaces only.
How do I choose the right tab width (2, 4, or 8 spaces)?
The choice depends on your language and team standards: Use 2 spaces for HTML, CSS, and JSON for compact formatting. Use 4 spaces for Python (PEP 8), JavaScript, and most modern languages for good readability. Use 8 spaces for traditional C/Unix code or when maximum clarity is needed. When in doubt, check your project's style guide or use auto-detection.
What does 'preserve alignment' do and when should I use it?
Preserve alignment keeps non-indentation tabs unchanged - these are tabs used to align comments, format data tables, or align assignment operators. Enable this when your code uses tabs for both indentation AND alignment formatting. Disable it if you want to convert ALL tabs to spaces uniformly.
Can mixed tab/space indentation cause problems?
Yes! Mixed indentation can cause syntax errors in Python, display inconsistently across editors, fail linting checks, and create merge conflicts in version control. It's especially problematic in YAML files which strictly require spaces. Use the 'normalize mixed' mode to fix these issues automatically.
Why do some programming languages require specific indentation?
Some languages use indentation for syntax: Python uses indentation to define code blocks (instead of braces), making consistent indentation crucial for correct execution. YAML uses indentation to define data structure hierarchy and only allows spaces. Makefiles require tabs for recipe lines due to historical Unix conventions. Other languages like JavaScript are more flexible but benefit from consistency.