Remove trailing spaces automatically or with a shortcut

Question

Is there a way to remove trailing spaces in Visual Studio Code (automatically or with a shortcut)?

I've been looking for this in the command palette and in the editor settings, but I cannot find what I am looking for.

Answer 1

You can enable whitespace trimming at file save time from settings:

1. Open Visual Studio Code User Settings (menu File → Preferences → Settings → User Settings tab).
2. See this answer below for the GUI setting, or:
3. Click the icon in the top-right part of the window. This will open a document.
4. Add a new "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true setting to the User Settings document if it's not already there. This is so you aren't editing the Default Setting directly, but instead adding to it.
5. Save the User Settings file.

We also added a new command to trigger this manually (Trim Trailing Whitespace from the command palette).

Answer 2

Have a look at the EditorConfig plugin.

By using the plugin you can have settings specific for various projects. Visual Studio Code also has IntelliSense built-in for .editorconfig files.

Answer 3

Not only can you change the Visual Studio Code settings to trim trailing whitespace automatically, but you can also do this from the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

You can also use the keyboard shortcut:

• Windows, Linux: Ctrl+K, Ctrl+X
• Mac: ⌘ + k, ⌘ + x.

(I'm using Visual Studio Code 1.20.1.)

Answer 4

In recent Visual Studio Code versions you can find settings here:

Menu File → Preference → Settings → Text Editor → Files → (scroll down a bit) Trim Trailing Whitespace

This is for trimming whitespace when saving a file.

Or you can search "Trim Trailing Whitespace" in the top search bar.

Answer 5

Menu Code → Preference → Settings →

Check the "Trim Trailing Whitespace" option - "When enabled, will trim trailing whitespace when saving a file".

Answer 6

Visual Studio Code, menu File → Preference → Settings → search for "trim":

Answer 7

<Ctr>-<Shift>-<F> 

Format, does it as well.

This removes trailing whitespace and formats/indents your code.

Answer 8

Easiest for me was to open the settings.json file in the .vscode folder in my working folder and insert the above mentioned line:

"files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true

Answer 9

There is extension in VS Code. This can also be used.

Name: Trailing Spaces Id: shardulm94.trailing-spaces Description: Highlight trailing spaces and delete them in a flash! Version: 0.4.1 Publisher: Shardul Mahadik VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=shardulm94.trailing-spaces

Answer 10

As of 2023 (with images)

1) Go to File > Preferences > Settings:

2) In the search bar type file trailing:

3) Check the option

You're all set. Now if you add space(s) at the end of a line (or even consecutive spaces in the middle of a line), once you Ctrl+S, the additional useless spaces will get automatically removed.