How to remove line breaks from text
- Paste text copied from a PDF, email, subtitle file or spreadsheet column.
- Choose what happens to line breaks. Replace with spaces makes one continuous paragraph; Keep paragraphs preserves blank lines between paragraphs.
- Keep “Join hyphenated words” on for PDF text, then copy or download the result.
Which option should you choose?
| Option | Result | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Replace with spaces | All lines become one paragraph | A single quote, a form field, a tweet |
| Keep paragraphs | Lines join; blank lines stay | Articles and reports copied from a PDF |
| Remove completely | Lines join with no space | Codes, keys or numbers split across lines |
| Keep every line | Line breaks stay; lines are cleaned | Lists to sort, dedupe or tidy |
Sort lines and remove duplicates
With “Keep every line” selected, the tool works as a line cleaner. Remove empty lines, delete repeated entries from a mailing or keyword list, or sort lines alphabetically. Sorting is natural, so numbers inside lines sort by value. The status line reports how many duplicates were removed.
Why spaces and hyphens matter
Text from a PDF often has extra spaces where columns were justified, and words split across lines with a hyphen. “Collapse repeated spaces” and “Join hyphenated words” fix both. A hyphen is only removed when the next line starts with a lowercase letter, which keeps most names and headings intact.
Need to change capitalization too? Paste the result into the case converter. To see exactly what changed between your original and cleaned text, use Text Compare.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove line breaks but keep paragraphs?
Choose “Keep paragraphs”. Single line breaks inside a paragraph become spaces, and blank lines between paragraphs are kept as one empty line. This is usually the right choice for text copied from a PDF or an email.
Why does text copied from a PDF have line breaks in the middle of sentences?
A PDF stores where each line sits on the page, not where sentences or paragraphs end. When you copy it, many apps insert a line break at the end of every printed line. Joining the lines restores normal paragraphs.
What does “Join hyphenated words” do?
It removes a hyphen at the end of a line when the next line starts with a lowercase letter, so “exam-” followed by “ple” becomes “example”. Hyphenated compounds can be joined by mistake, so check words such as “well-known” that happen to break at the hyphen.
Can I sort lines or remove duplicate lines?
Yes. Choose “Keep every line”, then sort A–Z or Z–A, remove duplicate lines or remove empty lines. Sorting uses natural order, so “item 2” comes before “item 10”. Turn on “Ignore case” to treat Apple and apple as the same line.
Is my text uploaded?
No. The text is processed in this browser tab and is not sent to SuperUtils or saved in browser storage.