Edit

Share via

Configure indent and tab settings in Visual Studio

Learn how to change the default tab and indentation behavior for the Code Editor in Visual Studio using the text editor configuration options.

Access options for indents and tabs

  1. Open Visual Studio.
  2. On the menu bar, select Tools > Options.
  3. In the Options dialog, expand the Text Editor node.
  4. Expand All Languages, then select Tabs.

Caution

Changes made here apply to all development languages. Resetting options in this dialog will override individual language settings. To configure options for a specific language, select its subfolder under Text Editor.

Resolve conflicting settings

If you select different tab or indent settings for individual languages, Visual Studio displays a warning message:

  • "The indentation settings for individual text formats conflict with each other," for differing Indenting options.
  • "The tab settings for individual text formats conflict with each other," for differing Tab options.

For example, if Smart indenting is set for Visual Basic and Block indenting for Visual C++, you’ll see a reminder about the conflict.

Configure indenting options

In the Indenting section, choose one of the following indenting styles:

  • None: New lines are not indented; the cursor starts at the first column.
  • Block: New lines are automatically indented to match the previous line.
  • Smart: New lines are indented based on code context and IntelliSense conventions. Not available for all languages.

For example, lines between braces { } may be indented an extra tab stop.

Configure tab options

In the Tabs section, choose the following options.

  • Tab size: Sets the number of spaces per tab stop (default: 4).
  • Indent size: Sets the number of spaces for each indentation (default: 4). Tabs, spaces, or both are used to fill the size.
  • Insert spaces: Indent operations insert only space characters.
  • Keep tabs: Indent operations insert as many tab characters as possible; spaces fill any remainder.

Troubleshooting

Tip

Adaptive formatting may override your custom tab settings. To disable adaptive formatting, go to Text Editor > Advanced and toggle Use adaptive formatting. You can also use an .editorconfig file to manage indent styles.

Next steps