⇤Spaces to Tabs Converter

Convert leading spaces to tab characters with configurable tab width.

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About Spaces to Tabs Converter

Convert space-based indentation back to tab characters for projects that prefer tab indentation. Specify the number of spaces that represent one tab level and the tool will intelligently replace only leading whitespace groups, preserving the rest of the content.

How to Use Spaces to Tabs Converter

1
Paste your code
Enter the text with space-based indentation you want to convert.
2
Set spaces per tab
Choose how many spaces constitute one tab level — typically 2 or 4.
3
Convert and copy
Click Convert and copy the tab-indented output.

Common Use Cases

Converting space-indented code to match a tab-based style guide
Preparing code for editors or tools that require tab indentation
Standardising indentation across a codebase
Reducing file size by replacing repeated spaces with single tab characters

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it convert all spaces or only indentation?

Only leading whitespace (indentation at the start of each line) is converted to tabs. Spaces within text content are left unchanged.

What if my code uses mixed indentation?

The tool normalises mixed indentation by treating each group of N spaces at the start of a line as one tab, where N is your configured tab width.

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