How can I convert tabs to spaces and vice versa in an existing file

Visual Studio-CodeWhitespace

Visual Studio-Code Problem Overview

I cannot figure out how to do this for the life of me apart from doing a find-replace on 4 spaces and converting to tabs (Version 0.10.2). I can't think of an editor/IDE that doesn't have a specific feature to do this. Does VSCode?

Visual Studio-Code Solutions

Solution 1 - Visual Studio-Code

Since fix of: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/1228 the editor supports it out of the box. Simply go for:

  1. F1,
  2. indentationToSpaces or indentationToTabs (depending on your need)
  3. Enter.

Solution 2 - Visual Studio-Code

Another way to do it is click the current indentation (Tab/Spaces:n) on the footer which will open your indentation options where you can select what you want to do. enter image description here

Solution 3 - Visual Studio-Code

If you are trying to convert non-leading tabs to spaces (or vice versa) you can use a regex search and replace.

  1. Press CTRL + H
  2. Click the .* button to search using regular expressions.
  3. To search for tabs enter [\t] in Find box.
  4. Enter spaces in Replace box and perform your replace.

Search box in regex mode: screenshot of VSCode regex search box

Solution 4 - Visual Studio-Code

  1. Select Replace: CTRL-H
  2. Enter Horizontal Tab in Find box: hold ATL and type 009 on the keypad.
  3. Enter a space(or more spaces) into the Replace box: press space bar
  4. Press Enter to begin replacing Tabs with Space(s).

Solution 5 - Visual Studio-Code

To round out these answers, I will add my take for converting each tab to n spaces.

  1. Highlight a tab character
  2. Use CTRL + F2 select all occurrences
  3. Press SPACE n times

This is the easiest way to do this (going beyond only converting leading tabs).

Note that this does not convert consecutive tabs to k spaces. It converts each tab. For consecutive tabs please see my comment on jrupe's answer. You will need VS Code find and replace with regular expressions to accomplish that.

Solution 6 - Visual Studio-Code

Press F1 and then type into textbox convert indentation to spaces or whatever you want ones

Solution 7 - Visual Studio-Code

On Visual Studio, Ctrl+K+F did the trick for me.

Solution 8 - Visual Studio-Code

Fast forward to 2020/2021, there are some extensions that will give us that conversion. I have just needed that functionality (hence I found this article), and searching for extensions I found:

  • geocode.spacecadet - providing both TAB->SPC and SPC->TAB, but not updated since 2017, with 1.3k installs, 3.5 review
  • takumii.tabspace - TAB->SPC, from 2020, 1.5k installs, no reviews
  • pygc.spacetab - SPC->TAB, from... wait, literally yesterday! (or today depending on your TZ), 2 installs, no reviews
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Attributions

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionZach LysobeyView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Visual Studio-CodePeter ButkovicView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Visual Studio-CodemaximumView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Visual Studio-CodejrupeView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Visual Studio-Codeuser9700262View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Visual Studio-CodeDersView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Visual Studio-CodeGeovani DiazView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Visual Studio-CodethecoderView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Visual Studio-CodeAlexei ZView Answer on Stackoverflow