Tabs to Spaces Converter

Tabs to Spaces Converter

The Tabs to Spaces Converter fixes mismatched indentation by converting tab characters into a configurable number of spaces, or converting runs of spaces back into tabs. It's a quick fix for code, configuration files, and plain-text documents that look misaligned after being opened in an editor with different tab settings.

⭐ What Does This Tool Do?

• Converts every tab character in your text into a chosen number of spaces
• Converts runs of consecutive spaces back into tab characters
• Lets you set exactly how many spaces represent one tab, from 1 to 16
• Works on multi-line text, preserving line breaks
• Updates the converted output instantly as you type

🔎 How Each Direction Works

Tabs → Spaces: Every tab character (\t) in the text is replaced with the chosen number of spaces.

Spaces per tab: 4
Input:  function() {[TAB]return true;[TAB]}
Output: function() {    return true;    }

Spaces → Tabs: Every run of exactly N consecutive spaces (where N is the spaces-per-tab setting) is replaced with a single tab character, scanning left to right on each line. Leftover spaces that don't form a full group of N are kept as spaces.

Spaces per tab: 4
Input:  "    hello"      (4 leading spaces)
Output: "[TAB]hello"

Input:  "      hello"    (6 leading spaces, N = 4)
Output: "[TAB]  hello"   (4 spaces become a tab, 2 spaces remain)

⚙️ Options Explained

Direction: Choose "Tabs → Spaces" to expand tabs into spaces, or "Spaces → Tabs" to collapse groups of spaces back into tabs.

Spaces per tab: The number of spaces that equal one tab character, from 1 to 16. Common values are 2, 4, and 8.

⭐ Common Use Cases

• Code formatting: Standardize indentation style across a codebase or before pasting into a style guide that requires spaces or tabs
• Editor compatibility: Fix misaligned code when moving files between editors with different default tab widths
• Log and config files: Normalize whitespace in configuration files or log output for consistent viewing
• Copy-paste cleanup: Clean up text copied from spreadsheets, terminals, or legacy documents that mix tabs and spaces

⚠️ Important Notes

• "Spaces → Tabs" only converts runs that are exact multiples of the chosen spaces-per-tab value; leftover spaces smaller than that amount remain as spaces
• Non-breaking spaces and other whitespace-like Unicode characters are not treated as regular spaces or tabs
• All conversion happens entirely in your browser; no text is uploaded to any server

This tool is also known as

• tab to space converter
• convert tabs to spaces online
• spaces to tabs converter
• indentation converter
• tab width fixer