Handling Indentation in VS Code

Byadmin

Warp Terminal
VS Code lets you customize indentation per file, per language, or globally.Other languages might not require it, but messy indentation can make code really hard to read (and debug). Common indentation styles include:

  • 2 spaces (popular in JS, HTML, CSS)
  • 4 spaces (common in Python, Java)
  • Tabs (some devs swear by them)

You can also do this from the status bar at the bottom.Now, here’s the power-user move. Let’s say you want:

1. Change indentation via the status bar (per-file basis)

This is the easiest method and perfect when you’re editing just one file.

  1. Open a file in VS Code.
  2. Look at the bottom-right corner of the window. You’ll see something like Spaces: 4 or Tab Size: 4.
setting up spaces from bottom pane of vs code
  1. Click that label, a menu pops up!

Perfect if you want 2-space indentation in a JS project but 4 spaces in a Python project you’re working on separately.

  • Indent Using Tabs
  • Indent Using Spaces
settings to set the indentation
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Now, you can choose:Boom! The file gets prettied up with your chosen indentation.Like word wrapping in VS Code, indentation may seem like a small thing, but it’s one of the cornerstones of clean, readable code.

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + P (Linux/Windows) or Cmd + Shift + P (macOS).
  • Type Format Document and select it.
format document to apply indentation changes
  • Or use the shortcut:
    • Ctrl + Shift + I on Linux
    • Shift + Alt + F on Windows
    • Shift + Option + F on macOS

This tells VS Code:

2. Set global indentation in user settings

Already working on a file but the indentation is inconsistent?

  1. Open Command Palette with Ctrl + Shift + P or F1.
  2. Type Preferences: Open User Settings.
accessing user settings
  1. In the Settings UI, search for Tab Size and set it (e.g., 4).
setting up default indentation tab size
  1. Then search Insert Spaces and make sure it’s checked.
checking insert spaces

Just changing the indentation setting doesn’t automatically re-indent the whole file. You’ll want to reformat the document too.

“Whenever I press Tab, insert 4 spaces instead.”

These get saved inside your project’s .vscode/settings.json file.

3. Set project-specific indentation (Workspace settings)

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Whether you’re coding solo or collaborating on big projects, being consistent with indentation helps avoid annoying bugs (especially in Python!) and keeps the codebase friendly for everyone.

  1. Open the project folder in VS Code.
  2. Go to the Command Palette and select Preferences: Open Workspace Settings.
toggling workspace settings
  1. Switch to the Workspace tab.
  2. Search and set the same Tab Size, Insert Spaces, and Detect Indentation options.
toggling tab size, detect indentation options in the workspace settings

Want to make your indentation choice apply to all new files in VS Code? Here’s how:If you need to convert all tabs in the file to spaces:

4. Set indentation based on programming language

VS Code makes it super easy to control indentation your way, whether you want to set it globally, per project, or even per language.

  • 4 spaces for Python
  • 2 spaces for JavaScript and TypeScript

Here’s how:

  1. Open the Command Palette → Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)
editing the user settings json file
  1. Add this snippet:

You can also drop this into your .vscode/settings.json file if you want project-level overrides.

setting up indentation based on programming language
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"[python]": {
"editor.tabSize": 4
},
"[javascript]": {
"editor.tabSize": 2
},
"[typescript]": {
"editor.tabSize": 2
}

Let’s explore all the ways to tweak that!

Bonus Tip: Convert tabs to spaces (and vice versa)

Also check for Detect Indentation, if it’s ON, VS Code will override your settings based on the file content. Disable it if you want consistency across files.

  • Open the Command Palette → Type Convert Indentation
  • Choose either:
    • Convert Indentation to Spaces
    • Convert Indentation to Tabs
quick convert indentation to spaces or tabs

We’ll be back soon with another helpful tip in our VS Code series.Indentation is how code is visually spaced. It helps define structure, scope, and readability. For example, Python requires indentation to define blocks of code.

  1. Press Ctrl + F
  2. Expand the search box
  3. Enable Regex (.* icon)
  4. Search for t and replace it with two or four spaces

Wrapping up

Maybe you want different indentation just for one project, not globally.Easy!And below that, choose how many spaces (2, 4, 8 – up to you).You can find all language identifiers in the VS Code docs if you want to customize more.

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