What is a tab character?

A tab is a formatting character commonly inserted with the Tab key or copied from spreadsheets, tables, code, and documents. It is different from an ordinary space even when both appear as blank width on screen.

Before: first[TAB][TAB]second After with one space: first second After removing tabs: firstsecond

What this tool changes

  • It targets tab characters only.
  • It preserves normal spaces, non-breaking spaces, and line breaks.
  • A consecutive run of tabs becomes one space in replacement mode.
  • Processing happens locally in your browser.

When to use the general whitespace tool

If the text also contains repeated spaces, non-breaking spaces, or other Unicode whitespace, use the main Remove Spaces Online tool. To join separate lines, use the Remove Line Breaks tool.