Notepad++ - NBSP

In Notepad++, the NBSP stands for Non-Breaking Space, which is a special whitespace character.

• Unicode code point: U+00A0

• HTML entity:  

• Unlike a normal space (U+0020), a non-breaking space prevents automatic line breaks at its position.

• In Notepad++, when you enable View → Show Symbol → Show All Characters, it is usually displayed as NBSP (or sometimes as a small dot or highlighted space depending on your settings).

So in short:
👉 NBSP = non-breaking space character (U+00A0)

Would you like me to also show you how to search and replace all NBSPs with normal spaces in Notepad++?

 

Yes, I would. Thanks.

 

ChatGPT said:

Perfect 👍 Here’s how you can find and replace NBSP (non-breaking space, U+00A0) with a normal space in Notepad++:

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Method 1: Directly Copy & Replace

1. Copy an actual NBSP from your text (the one showing as NBSP in Notepad++).

2. Open Search → Replace… (Ctrl + H).

3. In Find what, paste the NBSP character.

4. In Replace with, press the spacebar once (normal space).

5. Click Replace All.

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Method 2: Use Extended Search with \xA0

1. Open Search → Replace… (Ctrl + H).

2. At the bottom, select Search Mode → Extended (\n, \r, \t, \0, \x...).

3. In Find what, enter:

    

   \xA0

   (this is the hex code for NBSP).

4. In Replace with, enter a normal space.

5. Click Replace All.

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Method 3: Using Regex (if mixed whitespace issues)

1. Open Search → Replace….

2. Select Search Mode → Regular expression.

3. In Find what, enter:

    

   \x{00A0}

4. In Replace with, enter a normal space.

5. Replace all.

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👉 Usually, Method 2 (\xA0) is the easiest.

 

What's the difference between an NBSP and a normal space? How was NBSPs introduced in a text file?

 

ChatGPT said:

Great question 👌 Let’s break it down:

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🔹 Difference Between NBSP and Normal Space

Feature	Normal Space (U+0020)	Non-Breaking Space NBSP (U+00A0)
Appearance	Looks like a space	Looks the same as a space
Line breaking	Allows text to wrap/line break	Prevents line breaking at that position
Width	Standard width, depends on font	Usually the same width as normal space (but can differ in some fonts)
Encoding	ASCII-compatible (0x20 in most encodings)	Unicode only (0xA0 in Latin-1, UTF-8: 0xC2 0xA0)
Display in Notepad++	Shows as a blank (or dot if symbols visible)	Shows as NBSP when symbols visible

👉 So they look identical, but NBSP carries a special “don’t break here” rule.

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🔹 How NBSPs Get Into a Text File

NBSPs usually appear unintentionally. Common sources:

1. Copy-paste from websites or documents

   • In HTML,   is used to insert extra spaces (e.g., for indentation or alignment).

   • When you copy text from a webpage, those  s turn into Unicode U+00A0.

2. Word processors (MS Word, Google Docs, etc.)

   • They sometimes insert NBSP automatically to prevent breaking between numbers and units (100 kg, 10 AM) or between initials in names (J. K. Rowling).

3. PDF or scanned documents

   • Text extracted from PDFs often contains NBSPs instead of regular spaces.

4. Keyboard shortcuts

   • Some keyboard layouts (e.g., French AZERTY, Mac Option+Space) allow typing NBSP directly.

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✅ So, in short:

• Normal space = regular blank, breaks naturally.

• NBSP = looks the same, but glues words together.

• They sneak into text mostly via copy-paste from HTML, Word, or PDF.