Digital Toolchest

Convert Four Spaces to Tab

Swap four-space indentation for tab characters in seconds. Paste your code or text and get clean tab-indented output instantly — no server, no signup.

Text with four-space indentation

Paste code or text that uses four spaces per indent level.

Every group of four spaces becomes one tab. Leftover 1–3 spaces and existing tabs are left untouched. Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Tab-indented outputYour text with four-space groups replaced by tab characters.

0 lines in0 lines outN/A runtime

Even large files convert in well under 100ms in modern browsers.

How to convert four spaces to tabs

Convert in 3 steps

Takes ~5 seconds
  1. 1
    Paste your text

    Add any code or text that uses four-space indentation into the input box.

  2. 2
    Click Convert to Tabs

    The tool replaces every group of four spaces with a single tab character.

  3. 3
    Copy the output

    Copy or download the tab-indented result and paste it into your editor or file.

Use the reverse tool — Convert Tab to Four Spaces — to switch back any time.

Who should use this tool?

  • Developers migrating codebases from space-based to tab-based indentation style guides
  • Engineers normalizing log files or config snippets before parsing or diffing
  • Teams converting pasted code snippets to match a tab-indented project standard

Examples

A single four-space indent becomes one tab.

Input
    return true;
Output
	return true;

Eight spaces (two indent levels) become two tabs.

Input
        console.log(x);
Output
		console.log(x);

Five spaces: one tab plus one leftover space.

Input
     hello
Output
	 hello

Convert four-space indentation to tabs

This tool reverses the common four-spaces-per-tab convention. Paste any indented text and every group of four consecutive spaces is swapped for a tab character. Partial groups of one to three spaces and any existing tab characters are left exactly as they are.

Use this four spaces to tab converter to reformat code or plain text that uses four-space indentation into tab-indented output. The tool replaces each group of four consecutive spaces with a single tab, handling multiples like eight or twelve spaces correctly. It is the reverse of the convert tab to four spaces tool, and all processing runs locally in your browser for fast, private conversion.

Accurate replacement

Converts every run of four spaces — not just leading indentation — and handles multiples correctly.

  • Eight spaces → two tabs
  • Leftover 1–3 spaces preserved
  • Existing tabs untouched
Works on any text

Handles code, logs, config files, and any plain-text content with four-space indentation.

  • Multi-line support
  • Any programming language
  • Line breaks preserved
Private by default

All conversion runs in your browser. No data is ever sent to a server.

  • No upload required
  • Works offline
  • No signup needed
Privacy first: we never send your input to a server. Everything runs locally in your browser.

Conversion tips

Get consistent results by preparing your input before converting.

  • Remove mixed indentation (tabs and spaces on the same line) before converting to avoid unexpected output.
  • Run a diff after converting to confirm no unintended whitespace changes crept in.
  • Configure your editor to display tabs at four-space width so the converted file looks identical visually.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to a run of five, six, or seven spaces?>
The tool converts as many complete four-space groups as possible and leaves the remaining 1–3 spaces as regular spaces. For example, six spaces become one tab followed by two spaces.
Will existing tab characters in my file be changed or doubled?>
No. The tool only targets groups of four consecutive space characters. Any tab characters already present in the input are passed through completely unchanged.
How is this different from Convert Tab to Four Spaces?>
This tool is the reverse operation — it replaces four-space groups with tabs. The Convert Tab to Four Spaces tool does the opposite, replacing each tab character with four space characters.
Does the converter only affect leading indentation, or inline spaces too?>
It replaces every run of four consecutive spaces anywhere in the text, not just at the start of a line. If you have four spaces in the middle of a string literal, those will be converted too, so review the output if your content contains deliberate inline spacing.

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