Unindent Text

Need to remove leading spaces, tabs, or characters from lines of text? The Unindent Text Tool helps you quickly strip unwanted indentation from each line whether it’s spaces, tabs, or a custom prefix. Perfect for cleaning up copied code, markdown files, or formatting block text before publishing.

Paste your input above or import a file below.
No file chosen
Supported file type: text/plain (.txt)
Options
Remove all indentation
Ignore empty lines

How to Use:

  1. Paste or type your text into the input box on the left.
  2. Choose what to remove from the “Remove” dropdown:
    • Spaces (default)
    • Tabs
    • Custom string such as #, -, or any prefix
  3. Set how much to remove in the “Amount” field (e.g., 2 leading spaces).
  4. Optional toggles:
    • Remove all indentation strips all leading instances of the selected character(s).
    • Ignore empty lines leaves blank rows untouched.
  5. View the unindented output live in the box on the right.
  6. Copy or export your cleaned-up result instantly.
  7. Upload a file if your text is already saved.
  8. Use Clear All to reset the tool to default settings.

What the Unindent Text Tool Can Do:

The tool processes each line individually, removing leading characters according to your settings:

  • Strips out spaces, tabs, or a defined prefix.
  • Works with mixed indentation and messy formatting.
  • Skips blank lines if needed.
  • Displays a live line count after processing.

It’s especially useful for:

  • Cleaning up indented code blocks
  • Removing bullets or hashes from markdown
  • Flattening JSON or YAML key formatting
  • Tidying up pasted content from emails or documentation

Example:

Input:

    apple  
    banana  
    cherry  

    grape

Settings:

  • Remove: Spaces
  • Amount: 2
  • Remove all indentation: OFF
  • Ignore empty lines: ON

Output:

  apple  
  banana  
  cherry  

  grape

Enable Remove all indentation, and the result becomes:

apple  
banana  
cherry  

grape

Use a Custom String like >>> to remove prompts, or choose Tabs if you’re cleaning code copied from editors.

Common Use Cases:

  • Developers unindenting code blocks
  • Writers formatting markdown or quoted replies
  • Bloggers cleaning up pasted text
  • Analysts cleaning YAML/JSON structures
  • Anyone removing unwanted prefixes from lists

Forget tedious backspaces or regex hacks. This tool handles it instantly and safely.or removing unwanted indentation, tabs, spaces, or custom prefixes from lines of text. It’s perfect for cleaning up copied code, fixing improperly formatted lists, preparing text for publishing, or reformatting data for software and databases. Great for developers, writers, editors, students, and anyone who needs clean, properly aligned text.

Useful Tools & Suggestions:

After removing indentation, Normalize Text Spacing helps clean up any inconsistent gaps left behind. And if you’re restructuring the content visually, Left-align Text brings everything flush to the edge for a clean, polished look.

Related Tools