No-break spacing guide
Why an NBSP is not the same as a regular space
A regular U+0020 space normally allows software to wrap a line between the words on either side. A non-breaking space looks similar but asks the layout engine to keep the surrounding content together. Rich-text editors and websites commonly use it between a number and unit, inside a name, or to prevent a short label from splitting across lines.
Visible text: 25 kg
Possible storage: 25[U+00A0]kg
Convert mode keeps "25 kg" visible but changes the separator to U+0020.Three Unicode spaces detected
| Code point | Name | Common use |
|---|---|---|
U+00A0 | No-Break Space (NBSP) | HTML , documents, and pasted web text. |
U+202F | Narrow No-Break Space | Typography requiring a narrower protected gap. |
U+2007 | Figure Space | Number alignment with the approximate width of a digit. |
Convert to regular spaces when
- Words still need visible separation after cleanup.
- Pasted text wraps badly in a form, spreadsheet, or editor.
- A search or comparison treats NBSP differently from U+0020.
- Plain-text output should avoid typographic no-break behavior.
Remove completely when
- Cleaning an identifier that should contain no separator.
- Joining digit groups for a controlled data field.
- The surrounding characters are known to belong together.
- You have reviewed the output for unintended word joining.
What the tool deliberately does not change
Ordinary spaces, tabs, line endings, em spaces, zero-width characters, and punctuation are left unchanged. This narrow behavior matters when you need to repair wrapping without collapsing indentation or paragraph layout. The main homepage tool is broader: it can collapse several horizontal whitespace types at once.
Common sources of unexpected NBSP characters
Web pages often produce U+00A0 when the source contains the HTML entity . Word processors may insert protected spacing automatically around initials, units, or punctuation. PDF extraction can also preserve typographic spacing that behaves differently after pasting. The live audit separates the three supported types so the cleanup result is explainable rather than a blind replacement.
Review before using structured data
Spaces can be meaningful delimiters. Removing them from a column, product code, or imported record may create a value different from the intended one. Convert mode is the safer default because it maintains a visible boundary. For characters with no visible width at all, use the zero-width character remover. See the Unicode whitespace guide for copy-and-paste diagnostics.