Skip to content
Text

Remove Blank Lines

Strip empty lines and optionally trim whitespace from text.

blankemptylinestrimclean
Loading tool…

About the Remove Blank Lines

Blank lines sneak into text from every direction: copied emails, exported reports, OCR output, code pasted from chat, and documents assembled from multiple sources. They inflate line counts, break import scripts, and make content look sloppy. The Remove Blank Lines tool strips them out with surgical control. Paste your messy text into the input area and the cleaning happens live — no submit button required, though a Process now button is there if you prefer explicit control. Four switches define exactly what gets removed: Remove empty lines deletes lines with zero characters, Remove whitespace-only also catches lines made up purely of spaces and tabs, Trim each line strips stray leading and trailing whitespace from what remains, and Collapse blank runs condenses consecutive blank lines down to a single one while trimming blanks from the start and end. A Before / After / Removed stat row shows precisely how many lines disappeared, and the cleaned result in the Cleaned text box can be downloaded directly. It is the fastest way to prepare text for a spreadsheet, a CSV import, or publication.

Hand-written guide

Examples

Input
first


second
Output
first
second
Note: Defaults remove the two blank lines; the stats show 4 lines in and 2 out.
Input
alpha
   
beta
Output
alpha
beta
Note: A line containing only spaces is caught by Remove whitespace-only.
Input
one



two
Output
one

two
Note: With removal switches off and Collapse blank runs on, the three blanks become one paragraph break.

How to use

  1. 1

    Paste your text into the Text area; output updates live as you type.

  2. 2

    Toggle Remove empty lines to drop lines with zero characters.

  3. 3

    Enable Remove whitespace-only to also delete lines made purely of spaces and tabs.

  4. 4

    Switch on Trim each line and Collapse blank runs if you want whitespace stripped and blank runs condensed to one.

  5. 5

    Read the Before / After / Removed stats and download the Cleaned text, or click Process now to re-run explicitly.

Common use cases

  • Cleaning text pasted from email clients before storing it.
  • Preparing CSV or log exports for import into spreadsheets.
  • Condensing double-spaced manuscripts to single paragraph breaks.
  • Stripping stray whitespace from code snippets pasted out of chat.
  • Flattening OCR output with inconsistent blank lines.
  • Tidying documentation blocks before committing them to a repo.

Best practices

  • Know which blanks you are deleting: removal switches drop empty lines entirely, while Collapse preserves one.
  • Combine Trim each line with the removal filters when source text mixes indentation and blank lines.
  • Use Collapse blank runs instead of full removal when paragraph rhythm matters.
  • Run the cleanup before importing into spreadsheets so row counts match real data rows.
  • Review the Before / After / Removed stats to catch accidental deletion of intentional whitespace.

Tips

  • Pair Trim each line with Remove whitespace-only for a full cleanup that leaves no stray tabs behind.
  • Turn off both removal switches and enable Collapse blank runs when you want to keep single paragraph breaks.
  • The output updates live, so you can toggle options and watch the Removed counter respond instantly.
  • Paste from an email client first — it is the single biggest source of double-spaced line artifacts.

Frequently asked questions

Remove empty lines deletes lines containing zero characters, while Remove whitespace-only is broader and also deletes lines that contain nothing but spaces or tabs. Because whitespace-only lines are a superset of empty ones, enabling the second switch makes the first redundant — the tool prioritizes the whitespace-only filter whenever both are on.

Explore more text tools

Browse the full collection of text tools on the hub, or jump back to all categories.