Word Wrap Tool
Wrap text to specific line lengths with various wrapping and formatting options.
Related Tools
About Word Wrap Tool
How It Works
- Wrap text to specific line lengths with various wrapping modes
- Word wrap preserves word boundaries for readability
- Character wrap allows precise length control
- Hard wrap breaks at exact positions regardless of content
- Apply hanging or first-line indentation for formatting
Common Use Cases
- Formatting code comments and documentation
- Preparing text for email or console output
- Creating fixed-width formatted documents
- Adjusting text for specific display requirements
- Converting long paragraphs into readable blocks
Frequently Asked Questions
What is word wrapping and when is it useful?
Word wrapping is the process of breaking text into lines that fit within a specified width. It's useful for formatting code comments, preparing text for email or console output, creating fixed-width documents, and ensuring text displays properly in constrained environments.
What's the difference between word wrap, character wrap, and hard wrap?
Word wrap breaks lines at word boundaries to preserve readability. Character wrap allows breaking at any character position for precise length control. Hard wrap breaks at exact positions regardless of content, potentially splitting words. Word wrap is best for readability, while character and hard wrap offer more precise control.
When should I use hanging indent vs first-line indent?
Hanging indent is useful for lists, bibliographies, and references where the first line starts at the margin and subsequent lines are indented. First-line indent is common in paragraphs where only the first line is indented. Choose based on your document's formatting requirements and style guide.
What line length should I use for different types of content?
Common conventions include: 80 characters for code and technical documentation, 72 characters for email and Git commit messages, 100-120 characters for modern code with wider screens, 50-60 characters for optimal reading in narrow columns, and 66-75 characters for books and articles.
Should I preserve existing paragraphs when wrapping text?
Yes, if your text has meaningful paragraph breaks that represent logical separations. This maintains the document structure and readability. Disable this option only when you want to treat the entire input as one continuous block of text that should be rewrapped uniformly.
When should I remove extra spaces during wrapping?
Enable this option when dealing with text that has inconsistent spacing, multiple spaces between words, or when you want to normalize whitespace. This is particularly useful for cleaning up copied text from web pages or PDFs that may have irregular spacing.
Can this tool handle very long lines or large amounts of text?
Yes, the tool can handle long lines and substantial amounts of text efficiently. However, extremely large texts may take longer to process. For very large documents, consider processing them in smaller sections to maintain good performance and responsiveness.
How do I format code comments using this tool?
For code comments, typically use word wrap mode with 80 or 100 character line length. Use hanging indent if you want continuation lines to align with the comment content rather than the comment marker. This creates clean, readable code documentation that fits within coding standards.
What happens to existing line breaks in my text?
If "Preserve Paragraphs" is enabled, double line breaks (paragraph separators) are maintained, and each paragraph is wrapped separately. Single line breaks within paragraphs are removed and the text is rewrapped. If disabled, all existing line breaks are removed and the entire text is treated as one block.
Can I use this tool for preparing text for specific platforms or applications?
Absolutely! This tool is perfect for preparing text for various platforms: email (72 chars), terminal applications (80 chars), social media posts (variable lengths), documentation systems, and any application with specific line length requirements. Adjust the settings to match your target platform's specifications.