How do I automatically trim trailing whitespace with Notepad++?

Question

I don't want to delete the empty lines completely, but I want to remove the trailing tabs and whitespaces in them. Eclipse usually does it (through a preference setting) when we save the file.

For example, the file before saving ($ = end of line):

def shuffle(list):$
    import random $
    $
    random.shuffle(list)
    $
$

... and when I save this in the editor, Eclipse does the following:

def shuffle(list):$
    import random$
$
    random.shuffle(list)
$
$

How can I automatically trim trailing whitespace with Notepad++?

score 115 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 19 '15 at 17:59

115

You should be able to do a regular expression find/replace in Notepad++ using a pattern like \s+$.

There are also a few options under menu Edit -> Blank Operations that may fit your needs.

Under the "Macro" menu there's an option for "Trim trailing and save". If you need to do a regular expression it may be possible to create a macro however I've never tried them.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 17:59

Peter Mortensen

12,326

answered Jan 09 '14 at 18:30

johanno

1,264

score 98 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 11 '17 at 16:44

98

Alt+Shift+S does what you want. In fact it also saves the file.

Update

As 10basetom noted, you can assign a different shortcut to this macro. You can control your shortcuts under Settings > Shortcut Mapper > [Macros].

edited Apr 11 '17 at 16:44

Stevoisiak

16,075

answered Jan 27 '15 at 18:31

kon psych

1,081

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 16 '18 at 11:43

10

The existing answers look old.

Try below path:

Notepad++ > Edit (menu) > Blank Operations > Trim Trailing Space

answered Apr 16 '18 at 11:43

Manohar Reddy Poreddy

399

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered May 06 '15 at 19:46

Plugins > Plugin Manager > Show Plugin Manager
Under the Available tab, select EditorConfig and click [Install]

Add an .editorconfig file to the folder (name it .editorconfig. to avoid Windows error "You must type a filename" - the last dot will be removed)

# trims trailing whitespace for all files; filter like [*.{json,xml}]
[*]
trim_trailing_whitespace = true

EditorConfig can also specify encoding, indent and newline character(s), etc.

score 5 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 11 '17 at 17:48

5

I changed the shortcuts to find a solution to this. I removed the save shortcut (shortcut mapper -> main menu -> save) and mapped Ctrl+S to the "Trim Trailing and Save" macro (shortcut mapper -> macros -> trim trailing and save). This way the macro replaces the save functionality and there's no need to remember the Alt+Shift+S shortcut.

edited Apr 11 '17 at 17:48

Stevoisiak

16,075

answered Jan 29 '15 at 18:06

Halcyon

577

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 11 '17 at 17:10

Alt+Shift+S is the default shortcut for this. It's in the menu bar as Macro -> Trim Trailing and save. You can rebind this under Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> [Macros].

Building on kon psych's answer, if you want to automatically trim whitespace any time you save, you can set this to replace the default Ctrl+S behavior. Just remember to change or remove the original save shortcut to prevent conflicts.

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 08 '18 at 18:16

These are the precise steps to redirect the standard "Save" shortcut Ctrl+S to do instead "Trim Trailing and Save"

Settings->Shortcut Mapper...
Main Menu tab, double click on "Save", change S to None
Macros tab, double click on "Trim Trailing Space and Save", change to Ctrl+S

The Macros shortcut can also be modified from Macro->Modify Shortcut/Delete Macro...

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 24 '25 at 08:46

1

I found a menu item in version 8.7.5 Edit | Blank Operations | Trim Trailing Space.

It deleted the trailing space on every offending line in my file. There is no keystroke shortcut associated with it by default. You may modify and add your own shortcut.

edited Jan 24 '25 at 08:46

help-info.de

2,159

answered Jan 24 '25 at 07:24

Mark Patterson

111
1

score 1 · Answer 9 · edited Nov 19 '15 at 18:01

1

Ctrl + F -> Switch to tab Replace ->

Find what: \t\r

Replace with: \r

Make sure Extended search mode is on, then replace all.

If you want to save as well, johanno has the correct solution. Macro -> Trim Trailing and Save works as specified.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 18:01

Peter Mortensen

12,326

answered Jan 09 '14 at 18:33

dr4g1116

21

score 1 · Answer 10 · edited Apr 11 '17 at 17:48

1

In order to preserve the existing menu commands, map (previously unassigned) Ctrl+T to trim trailing spaces. Then, do Ctrl+T and Ctrl+S together.

This lets you make a small change to a file without confusing text comparison utilities and source control programs by changing (potentially) hundreds of lines.

edited Apr 11 '17 at 17:48

Stevoisiak

16,075

answered May 17 '15 at 21:27

al h

11

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 03 '17 at 20:34

0

Another way -

Edit > Blank Operations > Remove Unnecessary Blank and EOL
Plugin > XML Tools > Pretty print (XML only - with line breaks)

'XML Tools’ is a plugin that we can install for notepad++

answered Feb 03 '17 at 20:34

Pritam Karmakar

109

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 27 '23 at 12:25

0

I only wanted to trim non-empty lines. Building off an earlier comment, I searched for (\S)[ \t]+$ and replaced with $1. This leaves blank auto-indented lines unchanged.

answered Sep 27 '23 at 12:25

Andy

1

How do I automatically trim trailing whitespace with Notepad++?

12 Answers12

Linked