See whitespace characters only when you need them. This extension displays whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, and line endings) only within selected text, keeping your editor clean and clutter-free.
Download this extension from the Marketplace or get the CI build.
Inspired by a community Visual Studio feature request. Go vote for it!
Select any text to instantly reveal its whitespace characters:
| Character | Symbol | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Space | · |
Middle dot |
| Tab | → |
Rightwards arrow |
| CRLF | CRLF |
Windows line ending |
| LF | LF |
Unix/macOS line ending |
| CR | CR |
Classic Mac line ending |
Line endings include tooltips explaining their type (e.g., "CRLF (Windows)").
When Visual Studio's built-in View White Space setting is enabled (Edit → Advanced → View White Space, or Ctrl+R, Ctrl+W), this extension enhances it by also displaying line endings throughout the document. VS normally only shows spaces and tabs.
- No duplication — Selection whitespace is automatically disabled when View White Space is on
- Outlining aware — Whitespace inside collapsed code regions is hidden
- Non-intrusive — Uses subtle gray coloring that doesn't distract from your code
- Run-aware — Can show only whitespace runs with 2+ consecutive spaces/tabs
- Context-aware — Can filter runs by indentation, inline, and trailing whitespace contexts
- Configurable symbols — Customize symbols for spaces, tabs, and line endings
Configure behavior under Tools → Options → Whitespace Visualizer → General.
The defaults are tuned to reduce noise
- Select any text in the editor
- Whitespace characters appear automatically within the selection
- Clear the selection and they disappear
No commands required — it works out of the box.