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How to align columns in Notepad++

by Tomas Lind••37
Notepad++
Notepad++

Here’s a short tip on how to align columns (separated by comma or other character) for text files in Notepad++ for increased readability.

When a delimited text file is opened in Notepad++ (or any other text editor), the content may look something like this:

Non aligned columns in Notepad++
Non aligned columns in Notepad++

Since the columns aren’t aligned, it is quite hard to read the data.

To make the columns aligned (e.g. like in Excel), the plugin TextFX can be used. In Notepad++, select Plugins -> Plugin Manager and check the plugin to install:

TextFX plugin download
TextFX plugin download

Restart Notepad++ when prompted.

Copy the character that is used as a column delimiter (in the example above it is “;”) and select all rows. Next, select TextFX -> TextFX Edit -> Line up multiple lines by (Clipboard Character):

TextFX Line up multiple lines by
TextFX Line up multiple lines by

Now the result should be much more readable:

Aligned columns in Notepad++
Aligned columns in Notepad++

And here is the text that I used in my example:

PK;Name;InvoiceNumber;InvoiceDate;ReferenceNumber;DueDate;Amount
12688564;Tomas Lind;123456;2016-02-17;111;2016-03-17;1000
101;Mr X;88;2016-02-07;0;2016-03-17;100

Tomas Lind - Consulting services as SQL Server DBA and Database Developer at High Coast Database Solutions AB.

37 thoughts on “How to align columns in Notepad++”

  4. This isn’t working on my CSV. After about the 4th column in extra spaces appear on certain rows pushing things out of line. Re-running the line up command doesn’t fix it.

    2. This happened to me too – because I didn’t read the instruction thoroughly…
      1. Copy the delimiting character
      2. Select All rows
      3. Follow the TextFX menu instructions above

  5. I keep trying to do this but am seeing this error, “This tool requires more than one line be selected.” So, I select all and then see another warning “This tool requires exactly one character in the clipboard.” I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. 🙂 I appreciate any help, in advance.

    2. This happened to me too – because I didn’t read the instruction thoroughly…
      1. Copy the delimiting character
      2. Select All rows
      3. Follow the TextFX menu instructions above

  9. It’s a great Idea BUT!!!

    In most of the work I do the separator MUST immediately follow the data which means the added spaces have to come BEFORE the data not after.

    The following is an example but you will have to paste it into Notepadd++ to undo the silly “rich text” interference.

    Original
    P 5.3170, 23.2019, 0.0020, 127, 0, 127, 3, Exterminator_Valern
    P 685.0489, 61.0334, -13.9980, 0, 127, 0, 3, Tolkar_Parlone
    P 321.0277, 93.7604, 0.0020, 0, 0, 0, 3, Tacar_Tissleplay

    What TextFX did
    P 5.3170 , 23.2019, 0.0020 , 127, 0 , 127, 3, Exterminator_Valern
    P 685.0489, 61.0334, -13.9980, 0 , 127, 0 , 3, Tolkar_Parlone
    P 321.0277, 93.7604, 0.0020 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 3, Tacar_Tissleplay

    What I needed TextFX to do
    P 5.3170, 23.2019, 0.0020, 127, 0, 127, 3, Exterminator_Valern
    P 685.0489, 61.0334, -13.9980, 0, 127, 0, 3, Tolkar_Parlone
    P 321.0277, 93.7604, 0.0020, 0, 0, 0, 3, Tacar_Tissleplay

    1. Well forget the example from my previous post. The forum removed all the fixes from my example and set EVERYTHING to one space only between blocks of text.

      Either way what I’m getting at is just that you can’t put spaces after the data b4 its comma… You have to back up and add the spaces b4 the data and then move on the the next one.

  10. Is there a workaround for a two characters delimiter? For example |~. The error message states only one character should be copied.

    Thanks in advance.

      1. Tomas, thanks for getting back with me on this. No I can switch out any of the characters. Since I work with medical data we have a standard for delimiters. Thanks for your help, highly appreciated.

  13. 7.5.8 64 bit plugin manager does not have TetFX. Any suggestions for working with CSV to see the columns align?
    (next to uninstalling x64 and installing the 32 bit version)

  15. Nice. I had to work a bit to revert it though (I needed to do this to update the text in 1 column of a CSV text file and I didn’t want to use Excel). Anyway revert it process:
    1. Use “Search” to confirm 0 instances of an unlikely character – I chose “*”
    2. Use “Replace” to replace all spaces with that character
    3. Use this TextFX plugin to line up the columns
    4. Make the change to the text
    5. Use “Replace” to replace all spaces with null character (nothing)
    6. Use “Replace” to replace all “*” (or whatever character you used in step #1) with a space character
    Tada! I ran a compare across the before and after file and confirmed no change except the additional column I populated.

    2. I know this is an old post, but in case anyone might find it useful:

      You can do the same by simply doing multiple Replace “[space][delimiter]” -> “[delimiter]” until no matches are found…

  16. Pingback: How to vertically align comma separated values in Notepad++? – uuuul

  18. The plugin does not appear in NPP 64bit v 7.8.5
    If installed manually, it does not work on some machines (I saw that some people got it to work, stated on the SourceForge page), yet not on mine 🙁
    Could someone re-compile the module to fit the 64bit newer NPP versions?

    Regards,
    S.C.

  19. This plugin doesn’t seem to be available anymore.
    I use Code alignment. Once installe one heads to Plugins/Code alignment/Align by….
    It’s extremely useful when editing tables written in LaTeX.

    Cheers,

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