How do I change Eclipse to use spaces instead of tabs

Question

By default Eclipse indents with a hard tab character  How do I change it to spaces

User · Answer

Also consider using an  editorconfig file  https   marketplace eclipse org content editorconfig-eclipse  Someone not using Eclipse may also benefit from this  in the worst case it can serve as a guideline  NOTE  I will not enter the tabs vs space wars but use spaces FTW  -

User · Answer

Eclipse IDE for C C   Developers  Version  Helios Service Release 2  You need to create new profile by pressing New button inside  Window- Preferences- Code Style   Go to Indentation tab and select  Tab policy   Space only     Eclipse IDE for C C   Developers  Version  Kepler Service Release 1  Follow the path below to create new profile    Window   Preferences   C C     Code Style   Formatter   Go to Indentation tab and select  Tab policy   Space only

User · Answer

Be sure to check the java formater since it overwrites the  insert spaces for tabs  setting  Go to    Java- gt Code Style - gt Formatter- gt Edit- gt Identation  Note  you will need to create a custom format to be able to save your configuration

User · Answer

Don t miss Tab policy for both of      Spaces only     Use spaces to indent wrapped lines  I checked only the latter thing and left the Combobox as Tabs Only which kept failing CheckStyle   FYI  I m talking about Preferences   Java   Formatter   Edit

User · Answer

When I faced this problem I had  use spaces for tabs  set to true everywhere I could find  and yet I was still getting tabs  It ended up being because tabs were used elsewhere in the file and it was trying to do smart indentation or something frustrating   It was resolved by selecting the entire contents of the file and pressing  on a mac  command shift f  This applies the given formatting to a file  I do not know the same keybinding on windows  but give that a try  At that point I begin getting the expected behavior

User · Answer

Java Editor   Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes     Note  If necessary save profile with a new name as the default profile cannot be overwritten    Default Text Editor  Before version 3 6   Window- gt Preferences- gt Editors- gt Text Editors- gt Insert spaces for tabs   Version 3 6 and later    Click Window    Preferences Expand General    Editors Click Text Editors Check Insert spaces for tabs Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    Note that the default text editor is used as the basis for many non-Java editors in Eclipse  It s astonishing that this setting wasn t available until 3 3   C   C     Click Window    Preferences Expand C C      Code Style Click Formatter Click the New button to create a new profile  then OK to continue Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    HTML   Click Window    Preferences Expand Web    HTML Files Click Editor Under Formatting  select the Indent using spaces radio button Click OK to apply the changes    CSS  Follow the same instructions for HTML  but select CSS Files instead of HTML Files   JSP  By default  JSP files follow the formatting preferences for HTML Files   XML  XML files spacing is configured in Preferences    Click Window    Preferences Expand XML    XML Files Click Editor Select Indent using spaces You can specify the Indentation size if needed  number of spaces to indent

User · Answer

Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter click new Select the profile name Click ok Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK

User · Answer

I found the solution this problem very simple and which works always  It is change the eclipse setting file   For example  change HTML indentation size       Found org eclipse wst html core prefs file which should be in your workspace  metadata  plugins org eclipse core runtime  settings  Add Change to line in file    indentationChar space  indentationSize 4

User · Answer

Eclipse IDE for C C   Developers  Version  Helios Service Release 2  You need to create new profile by pressing New button inside  Window- Preferences- Code Style   Go to Indentation tab and select  Tab policy   Space only     Eclipse IDE for C C   Developers  Version  Kepler Service Release 1  Follow the path below to create new profile    Window   Preferences   C C     Code Style   Formatter   Go to Indentation tab and select  Tab policy   Space only

User · Answer

For Default Editor   Window    Preferences    Editors    Text Editors    Insert spaces for tabs    For Java editor  Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation    Tab policy  Spaces Only

User · Answer

Also consider using an  editorconfig file  https   marketplace eclipse org content editorconfig-eclipse  Someone not using Eclipse may also benefit from this  in the worst case it can serve as a guideline  NOTE  I will not enter the tabs vs space wars but use spaces FTW  -

User · Answer

Java Editor   Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes     Note  If necessary save profile with a new name as the default profile cannot be overwritten    Default Text Editor  Before version 3 6   Window- gt Preferences- gt Editors- gt Text Editors- gt Insert spaces for tabs   Version 3 6 and later    Click Window    Preferences Expand General    Editors Click Text Editors Check Insert spaces for tabs Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    Note that the default text editor is used as the basis for many non-Java editors in Eclipse  It s astonishing that this setting wasn t available until 3 3   C   C     Click Window    Preferences Expand C C      Code Style Click Formatter Click the New button to create a new profile  then OK to continue Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    HTML   Click Window    Preferences Expand Web    HTML Files Click Editor Under Formatting  select the Indent using spaces radio button Click OK to apply the changes    CSS  Follow the same instructions for HTML  but select CSS Files instead of HTML Files   JSP  By default  JSP files follow the formatting preferences for HTML Files   XML  XML files spacing is configured in Preferences    Click Window    Preferences Expand XML    XML Files Click Editor Select Indent using spaces You can specify the Indentation size if needed  number of spaces to indent

User · Answer

In eclipse format xml  For tab   lt setting id  quot org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char quot  value  quot tab quot   gt   For space   lt setting id  quot org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char quot  value  quot space quot   gt

User · Answer

For the default text editor    General    Editors    Text Editors    Insert spaces for tabs  check it      For PHP    PHP    Code Style    Formatter    Tab policy  choose  spaces   PHP    Code Style    Formatter    Indentation size  set to 4      For CSS    Web    CSS    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  Web    CSS    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For HTML    Web    HTML    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  Web    HTML    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For XML    XML    XML Files    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  XML    XML Files    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For Javascript    Javascript    Preferences    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  spaces only   Rename the formatter settings profile to save it     For Java    Java    Preferences    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  spaces only   Rename the formatter settings profile to save it

User · Answer

Window- Preferences- Java- Code Style- Formatter- Edit- Indentation    Spaces Only

User · Answer

From changing tabs to spaces in eclipse   Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  Spaces Only

User · Answer

As an augmentation to the other answers  on Mac OS X  the  Preferences  menu is under Eclipse  not Window  unlike Windows Linux Eclipse distributions    Everything else is still the same as pointed out by other answers past this point   IE  Java Formatter available under   Eclipse  gt           Not Window  Preferences  gt     Java  gt            Code Style  gt      Formatter          From here  edit the formatter and the tab policy can be set under  Indentation

User · Answer

You can definitely use XML file to configure your formatter of the coding style  The formatter file helps you to have the same coding style and guidelines across your team members   Adding these below setting variables would have a tab  2 spaces and convert to space even you probably use Tab shorthand key when coding using Eclipse    lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation size  value  2   gt   lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char  value  space   gt       lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter use tabs only for leading indentations  value  yes   gt    Best

User · Answer

When I faced this problem I had  use spaces for tabs  set to true everywhere I could find  and yet I was still getting tabs  It ended up being because tabs were used elsewhere in the file and it was trying to do smart indentation or something frustrating   It was resolved by selecting the entire contents of the file and pressing  on a mac  command shift f  This applies the given formatting to a file  I do not know the same keybinding on windows  but give that a try  At that point I begin getting the expected behavior

User · Answer

For Default Editor   Window    Preferences    Editors    Text Editors    Insert spaces for tabs    For Java editor  Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation    Tab policy  Spaces Only

User · Answer

For the default text editor    General    Editors    Text Editors    Insert spaces for tabs  check it      For PHP    PHP    Code Style    Formatter    Tab policy  choose  spaces   PHP    Code Style    Formatter    Indentation size  set to 4      For CSS    Web    CSS    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  Web    CSS    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For HTML    Web    HTML    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  Web    HTML    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For XML    XML    XML Files    Editor    Indent using spaces  select it  XML    XML Files    Editor    Indentation size  set to 4      For Javascript    Javascript    Preferences    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  spaces only   Rename the formatter settings profile to save it     For Java    Java    Preferences    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  spaces only   Rename the formatter settings profile to save it

User · Answer

Just a quick tip for people stumbling across this thread  there is one more place where this setting can also be set  in your project   Eclipse supports project-specific settings  and some projects will use their own  un-managed tabs spaces settings  which won t show up anywhere except the current project Properties   This can be managed through    Right-Click current Project in Package Explorer Properties    Java Code Style Turn off all the project-specific options   This will generally only be an issue if you import someone else s code into your Eclipse

User · Answer

You can definitely use XML file to configure your formatter of the coding style  The formatter file helps you to have the same coding style and guidelines across your team members   Adding these below setting variables would have a tab  2 spaces and convert to space even you probably use Tab shorthand key when coding using Eclipse    lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation size  value  2   gt   lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char  value  space   gt       lt setting id  org eclipse jdt core formatter use tabs only for leading indentations  value  yes   gt    Best

User · Answer

From changing tabs to spaces in eclipse   Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  Spaces Only

User · Answer

Don t miss Tab policy for both of      Spaces only     Use spaces to indent wrapped lines  I checked only the latter thing and left the Combobox as Tabs Only which kept failing CheckStyle   FYI  I m talking about Preferences   Java   Formatter   Edit

User · Answer

From changing tabs to spaces in eclipse   Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  Spaces Only

User · Answer

And don t forget the ANT editor   For some reason Ant Editor does not show up in the search results for  tab  or  spaces  so can be missed   Under Windows   Preferences   Ant    Editor    Formatter    Tab size   set to 4  Ant    Editor    Formatter    Use tab character instead of spaces  uncheck it

User · Answer

Be sure to check the java formater since it overwrites the  insert spaces for tabs  setting  Go to    Java- gt Code Style - gt Formatter- gt Edit- gt Identation  Note  you will need to create a custom format to be able to save your configuration

User · Answer

For CDT     Go to Window Preference    C C      Code Style    Formatter    New Create a new one because the built in profile can not be changed MyProfile  choose one name for the profile  Indentation    Tab Policy  choose Spaces only

User · Answer

Just a quick tip for people stumbling across this thread  there is one more place where this setting can also be set  in your project   Eclipse supports project-specific settings  and some projects will use their own  un-managed tabs spaces settings  which won t show up anywhere except the current project Properties   This can be managed through    Right-Click current Project in Package Explorer Properties    Java Code Style Turn off all the project-specific options   This will generally only be an issue if you import someone else s code into your Eclipse

User · Answer

Window- Preferences- Java- Code Style- Formatter- Edit- Indentation    Spaces Only

User · Answer

Java Editor   Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes     Note  If necessary save profile with a new name as the default profile cannot be overwritten    Default Text Editor  Before version 3 6   Window- gt Preferences- gt Editors- gt Text Editors- gt Insert spaces for tabs   Version 3 6 and later    Click Window    Preferences Expand General    Editors Click Text Editors Check Insert spaces for tabs Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    Note that the default text editor is used as the basis for many non-Java editors in Eclipse  It s astonishing that this setting wasn t available until 3 3   C   C     Click Window    Preferences Expand C C      Code Style Click Formatter Click the New button to create a new profile  then OK to continue Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    HTML   Click Window    Preferences Expand Web    HTML Files Click Editor Under Formatting  select the Indent using spaces radio button Click OK to apply the changes    CSS  Follow the same instructions for HTML  but select CSS Files instead of HTML Files   JSP  By default  JSP files follow the formatting preferences for HTML Files   XML  XML files spacing is configured in Preferences    Click Window    Preferences Expand XML    XML Files Click Editor Select Indent using spaces You can specify the Indentation size if needed  number of spaces to indent

User · Answer

And don t forget the ANT editor   For some reason Ant Editor does not show up in the search results for  tab  or  spaces  so can be missed   Under Windows   Preferences   Ant    Editor    Formatter    Tab size   set to 4  Ant    Editor    Formatter    Use tab character instead of spaces  uncheck it

User · Answer

Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter click new Select the profile name Click ok Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK

User · Answer

In Eclipse go to Window    Preferences then search for Formatter   You will see various bold links   click on each bold link and set it to use spaces instead of tabs   In the java formatter link  you have to edit the profile and select the tab policy  spaces only in indentation tab

User · Answer

In eclipse format xml  For tab   lt setting id  quot org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char quot  value  quot tab quot   gt   For space   lt setting id  quot org eclipse jdt core formatter tabulation char quot  value  quot space quot   gt

User · Answer

As an augmentation to the other answers  on Mac OS X  the  Preferences  menu is under Eclipse  not Window  unlike Windows Linux Eclipse distributions    Everything else is still the same as pointed out by other answers past this point   IE  Java Formatter available under   Eclipse  gt           Not Window  Preferences  gt     Java  gt            Code Style  gt      Formatter          From here  edit the formatter and the tab policy can be set under  Indentation

User · Answer

Java Editor   Click Window    Preferences Expand Java    Code Style Click Formatter Click the Edit button Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes     Note  If necessary save profile with a new name as the default profile cannot be overwritten    Default Text Editor  Before version 3 6   Window- gt Preferences- gt Editors- gt Text Editors- gt Insert spaces for tabs   Version 3 6 and later    Click Window    Preferences Expand General    Editors Click Text Editors Check Insert spaces for tabs Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    Note that the default text editor is used as the basis for many non-Java editors in Eclipse  It s astonishing that this setting wasn t available until 3 3   C   C     Click Window    Preferences Expand C C      Code Style Click Formatter Click the New button to create a new profile  then OK to continue Click the Indentation tab Under General Settings  set Tab policy to  Spaces only Click OK ad nauseam to apply the changes    HTML   Click Window    Preferences Expand Web    HTML Files Click Editor Under Formatting  select the Indent using spaces radio button Click OK to apply the changes    CSS  Follow the same instructions for HTML  but select CSS Files instead of HTML Files   JSP  By default  JSP files follow the formatting preferences for HTML Files   XML  XML files spacing is configured in Preferences    Click Window    Preferences Expand XML    XML Files Click Editor Select Indent using spaces You can specify the Indentation size if needed  number of spaces to indent

User · Answer

Go to Window -  Preferences and type tab as the search text  which will display a dialog like below      Go to the highlighted sections to change the tab policy  For the Editor settings it is mostly Indent using spaces  also shown above    For Formatter settings you need to edit the active profile and update Tab policy  available under  Indentation -  General settings

User · Answer

In Eclipse go to Window    Preferences then search for Formatter   You will see various bold links   click on each bold link and set it to use spaces instead of tabs   In the java formatter link  you have to edit the profile and select the tab policy  spaces only in indentation tab

User · Answer

For CDT     Go to Window Preference    C C      Code Style    Formatter    New Create a new one because the built in profile can not be changed MyProfile  choose one name for the profile  Indentation    Tab Policy  choose Spaces only

User · Answer

In eclipse mars  EE  on Mac OS X  the only way I could find this in the preferences was to open the Preference dialog and type Formatter  then select Java- Code Style- Formatter   Java- Code Style has no access to Formatter

User · Answer

I found the solution this problem very simple and which works always  It is change the eclipse setting file   For example  change HTML indentation size       Found org eclipse wst html core prefs file which should be in your workspace  metadata  plugins org eclipse core runtime  settings  Add Change to line in file    indentationChar space  indentationSize 4

User · Answer

Go to Window -  Preferences and type tab as the search text  which will display a dialog like below      Go to the highlighted sections to change the tab policy  For the Editor settings it is mostly Indent using spaces  also shown above    For Formatter settings you need to edit the active profile and update Tab policy  available under  Indentation -  General settings

User · Answer

In eclipse mars  EE  on Mac OS X  the only way I could find this in the preferences was to open the Preference dialog and type Formatter  then select Java- Code Style- Formatter   Java- Code Style has no access to Formatter

User · Answer

From changing tabs to spaces in eclipse   Window    Preferences    Java    Code Style    Formatter    Edit    Indentation  choose  Spaces Only

[eclipse] How do I change Eclipse to use spaces instead of tabs?

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