Why convert tabs to spaces?

Many style guides and linters (PEP 8 for Python, Google Style Guide, Prettier defaults) prefer spaces over tabs for consistent visual indentation across different editors and environments. Mixing tabs and spaces in Python 3, for example, raises a TabError. Converting to spaces ensures your code looks identical regardless of the editor tab-width setting.

When should I convert spaces to tabs?

Some projects (notably the Linux kernel and many Go projects) mandate tabs for indentation. Converting spaces back to tabs reduces file size slightly and respects the convention. The Go formatter (gofmt) always uses tabs - so converting before committing saves a gofmt run.

How many spaces should I use per tab?

The most common settings are 2 spaces (JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, YAML), 4 spaces (Python, Java, C#), and 8 spaces (Linux kernel C). Match the setting used by your project's .editorconfig or Prettier/ESLint config.

Does the converter handle mixed indentation?

Yes. When converting tabs to spaces, every tab character in the text (regardless of position) is replaced by the selected number of spaces. When converting spaces to tabs, runs of spaces at the start of lines that are multiples of your chosen width are replaced with tabs. Trailing and mid-line spaces are preserved as-is.

Will converting indentation create a huge diff in Git?

Yes - changing indentation touches every line, so a whitespace conversion shows up as a full-file rewrite in a normal diff. Commit the conversion on its own, separate from any logic change, so reviewers can skip it. Reviewers can then use `git diff -w` (or `git blame -w`) to ignore whitespace, and you can add the commit hash to a .git-blame-ignore-revs file so GitHub and `git blame` skip past it permanently.

Is my code sent to a server?

No. All conversion happens entirely in your browser. No data is uploaded or stored anywhere. The tool works offline once the page has loaded.

Tab to Space Converter

Convert tabs to spaces and spaces to tabs online. Choose 2, 4, or 8 spaces per tab. Free indentation converter for code and text.

🔒 Your text stays in your browser - nothing is sent to our servers

Spaces per tab:

Input

Output

How to Use

Three steps to get started

Choose direction

Select "Tabs → Spaces" or "Spaces → Tabs" to set the conversion direction.

Set spaces per tab

Choose 2, 4, or 8 spaces per tab to match your project's coding style.

Paste and copy

Paste your code into the input field and copy the converted output instantly.

About This Tool

Why indentation consistency matters

A tab is a single control character (U+0009, written\t) that instructs the display to advance to the next tab stop, while indenting with spaces writes a fixed number of literal space characters (U+0020). The distinction matters because a tab has no intrinsic width - it is a request, rendered as 8 columns in a POSIX terminal, 4 in Visual Studio, and whatever the editor is configured for elsewhere. Spaces have exactly one width everywhere.

That is the whole tabs-versus-spaces argument in a sentence. Spaces guarantee the file looks identical to everyone; tabs are one byte instead of two to eight and let each developer choose their own visual width, which is the accessibility argument - a reader who needs wide indentation can get it without reformatting the file.

The languages have largely settled it for you. Python's PEP 8 specifies four spaces and Python 3 refuses to run a file mixing tabs and spaces inconsistently, raising TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation. YAML forbids tabs for indentation outright at the spec level. Go went the other way:gofmt emits tabs and there is no option to change it. Makefiles are the strictest of all - a recipe line must begin with a real tab character, and pasting spaces there produces the notoriousmissing separator error.

Common use cases

Pasting code from Stack Overflow or a PDF - copied snippets routinely arrive with mixed or converted indentation
Migrating between editors - VS Code inserts spaces by default via editor.insertSpaces, while a stock Vim inserts real tabs until expandtab is set
Normalizing before a formatter run - cleaning input for Prettier, Black, or clang-format so the diff stays readable
YAML and JSON editing - Kubernetes manifests, GitHub Actions workflows, and Docker Compose files all reject tabs
Meeting a linter rule - ESLint's indent, Rubocop, and gofmt -l checks in CI

Picking a width, and one thing to watch

Two spaces is conventional for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, YAML, and Ruby; four for Python, Java, C#, PHP, and Rust; eight for Linux kernel C, where the kernel coding style argues that deep indentation should hurt enough to discourage it. If the project has an .editorconfig, itsindent_style and indent_size keys are the authoritative answer.

The gotcha to watch is alignment versus indentation. Spaces used to line up continuation arguments under an opening parenthesis are not structural indentation, and converting them to tabs will scramble that alignment for anyone whose tab width differs from yours. This is why some codebases adopt the hybrid rule "tabs for indentation, spaces for alignment". Converting tabs to spaces is always safe; the reverse direction deserves a review of the diff.

The conversion runs entirely in your browser - no code is uploaded, and the page keeps working after you go offline, which makes it usable on proprietary source.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

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