stripspace.el - Ensure Emacs Automatically removes trailing whitespace before saving a buffer, with an option to preserve the cursor column
The stripspace Emacs package provides stripspace-local-mode, which automatically removes trailing whitespace and blank lines at the end of the buffer when saving.
(Trailing whitespace refers to any spaces or tabs that appear at the end of a line, beyond the last non-whitespace character. These characters serve no purpose in the content of the file and can cause issues with version control, formatting, or code consistency. Removing trailing whitespace helps maintain clean, readable files.)
- Automatically removes trailing whitespace before saving buffers.
- An optional feature controlled by the
stripspace-restore-columnvariable (enabled by default), which, when set to non-nil, preserves the cursor's column position even after stripping spaces. This is useful when extra spaces are added and the file is saved: - An optional feature
stripspace-only-if-initially-clean(disabled by default), which, when set to non-nil, instructs stripspace to only delete whitespace when the buffer is clean initially. - The
stripspace-verbosevariable, when non-nil, shows in the minibuffer whether trailing whitespaces have been removed or, if not, provides the reason for their retention. - The
(stripspace-clean)function forces the deletion of trailing whitespace in the current buffer. When thestripspace-only-if-initially-cleanvariable is non-nil, this function also marks the buffer as clean, ensuring thatstripspace-local-modewill remove trailing whitespace the next time the buffer is saved. The function that checks if the buffer is clean is optimized by performing a single regex search for trailing whitespace and another for blank lines.- Saved file: Removes all trailing whitespace.
- Currently edited file (buffer): Removes all trailing whitespace but preserves the cursor's column position on the current line, including any spaces before the cursor. This ensures a consistent editing experience and prevents unintended cursor movement when saving a buffer and removing trailing whitespace.
- The functions for deleting whitespace are customizable, allowing the user to specify a custom function for removing trailing whitespace from the current buffer.
- Even if the buffer is narrowed,
stripspaceremoves trailing whitespace from the entire buffer. This behavior, controlled bystripspace-ignore-restrictions(default:t), can be adjusted as needed. - The
stripspace-clean-functioncustomization allows the user to specify a function for removing trailing whitespace from the current buffer. This function is called to eliminate any extraneous spaces or tabs at the end of lines. Alternative functions includedelete-trailing-whitespace(default) orwhitespace-cleanup.
To install stripspace with straight.el:
- It if hasn't already been done, add the straight.el bootstrap code to your init file.
- Add the following code to the Emacs init file:
(use-package stripspace
:ensure t
:straight (stripspace
:type git
:host github
:repo "jamescherti/stripspace.el")
:commands stripspace-local-mode
;; Enable for prog-mode and text-mode
:hook ((prog-mode . stripspace-local-mode)
(text-mode . stripspace-local-mode)
(conf-mode . stripspace-local-mode))
:custom
;; The `stripspace-only-if-initially-clean' option:
;; - nil to always delete trailing whitespace.
;; - Non-nil to only delete whitespace when the buffer is clean initially.
;; (The initial cleanliness check is performed when `stripspace-local-mode'
;; is enabled.)
(stripspace-only-if-initially-clean nil)
;; Enabling `stripspace-restore-column' preserves the cursor's column position
;; even after stripping spaces. This is useful in scenarios where you add
;; extra spaces and then save the file. Although the spaces are removed in the
;; saved file, the cursor remains in the same position, ensuring a consistent
;; editing experience without affecting cursor placement.
(stripspace-restore-column t))To install stripspace with use-package and :vc (Emacs >= 30):
(use-package stripspace
:ensure t
:vc (:url "https://github.com/jamescherti/stripspace.el"
:rev :newest)
:commands stripspace-local-mode
;; Enable for prog-mode and text-mode
:hook ((prog-mode . stripspace-local-mode)
(text-mode . stripspace-local-mode)
(conf-mode . stripspace-local-mode))
:custom
;; The `stripspace-only-if-initially-clean' option:
;; - nil to always delete trailing whitespace.
;; - Non-nil to only delete whitespace when the buffer is clean initially.
;; (The initial cleanliness check is performed when `stripspace-local-mode'
;; is enabled.)
(stripspace-only-if-initially-clean t)
;; Enabling `stripspace-restore-column' preserves the cursor's column position
;; even after stripping spaces. This is useful in scenarios where you add
;; extra spaces and then save the file. Although the spaces are removed in the
;; saved file, the cursor remains in the same position, ensuring a consistent
;; editing experience without affecting cursor placement.
(stripspace-restore-column t))The ws-butler tracks modified lines and removes trailing whitespace only from those lines. However, it is slightly more complex, as it employs custom functions to track buffer changes, triggered by the following hooks: after-change-functions, before-save-hook, after-save-hook, before-revert-hook, after-revert-hook, and edit-server-done-hook.
In contrast, the stripspace package is lightweight. It operates solely on the before-save-hook to remove whitespace from the entire buffer using built-in Emacs functions, and on the after-save-hook to restore the cursor.
Optionally, when stripspace-local-mode is enabled, it can check if the buffer is already clean (with no whitespace) to determine whether trailing whitespace should be deleted automatically.
The stripspace Emacs package has been written by James Cherti and is distributed under terms of the GNU General Public License version 3, or, at your choice, any later version.
Copyright (C) 2025 James Cherti
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program.
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