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Get rid of multiple spaces/tabs in a text file

Terminal - Get rid of multiple spaces/tabs in a text file
sed -i "s/\s*/ /g;s/\s*$//" input_file
2011-12-12 10:58:33
User: gitterrost4
Functions: sed
-3
Up
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Get rid of multiple spaces/tabs in a text file

A much shorter version of this command.

Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There are 5 alternatives - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives
sed -i "s/\(\x09\{1,\}\)\|\( \{1,\}\)/ /g;s/\(\x09\{1,\}$\)\|\( \{1,\}$\)//g" brisati.txt
2011-12-12 10:24:03
User: knoppix5
Functions: sed
Tags: sed replace multiple spaces textfile tabs
-4
Up
Down
Get rid of multiple spaces/tabs in a text file

This command does the following:

- converts any sequence of multiple spaces/tabs to one space only

- completely removes any space(s)/tab(s) at the end of each line

(If spaces and tabs are mixed in a sequence i.e. [tab][tab][space][tab], you have to execute this command twice!)

Show sample output | Comments (3) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Know a better way?

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What others think

Urgh! That will put spaces between all the characters.

You need to change "\s\*" to "\s\+"

Comment by flatcap 79 weeks and 1 day ago

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