The system I'm uploading to wants Windows line endings; which option do I choose when downloading?
In the whitespace cleaner, choose 'CRLF (Windows)' in the 'Line endings for copy and download' list. The cleaned text is then written with Windows line breaks in the downloaded file and in what you copy, and breaks that were already CRLF are not doubled. If you leave the list alone, the file keeps LF breaks, because the browser turns line breaks into LF when you paste.
LF versus CRLF
A line ending in a text file is an invisible character. The web, macOS and Linux use one character called LF; Windows traditionally uses two in a row, CR then LF. Most modern software reads both, but some older import systems, accounting programs or devices insist on one form. When a system asks for Windows line endings, it means CRLF.
What happens to the text, step by step
You paste a small CSV with two lines: 'SKU,Name', then 'SKU-1001,Coffee' followed by a stray space. The browser's text box turns any CRLF into LF the moment you paste.
The default rules trim the stray space from the end of the second line. If the CRLF breaks did reach the tool untouched, as in our direct test of the function, the normalizing rule turns both into LF, for 3 changes in total.
With CRLF chosen in the line-ending list, the output is written as 'SKU,Name', CR, LF, then 'SKU-1001,Coffee', CR, LF.
No need to worry about doubling: converting to CRLF treats a break that was already CRLF as one break, so it never becomes CR CR LF. We tried a text mixing both forms, and every break came out as clean CRLF.
Steps
- Open the Whitespace cleaner and paste the file's contents.
- Choose the rules you need. For a data file, the defaults usually suit.
- Under 'Line endings for copy and download', choose 'CRLF (Windows)'.
- Press 'Download text file'; it saves as cleaned-text.txt. Rename the extension if the system needs csv.
Why the 'Normalize line endings' counter shows zero
Because the browser gets there first: when you paste text containing CRLF, the text box converts it to LF before the rule sees it, leaving nothing to convert. The counter mostly moves for special separators, such as the Unicode line separator U+2028 that sometimes comes with text copied from certain apps. We tried a text with one of those, the rule turned it into LF, and the counter read 1.
Copy or download?
The choice in the list applies to both. But what happens after copying is outside the tool: if you paste the text into another text box in a browser, it may turn back into LF. So if the system insists on CRLF, download the file and upload it as it is, rather than copying and pasting.
Common questions
Does the list change the preview?
No, the preview shows the same text; the choice affects copy and download only.
Does the tool drop a final line break?
A final break stays if the text had one, and none is added if it did not.
Is the file uploaded to a server?
No, conversion and download both happen in your browser.