How to Replace Multiple Spaces with a Single Space Using Regex?

Replacing Multiple Spaces with a Single Space Using Regex

In the realm of string manipulation, it often becomes necessary to tidy up excessive whitespace. A common issue is having strings with multiple consecutive spaces, which can clutter visual display or affect data consistency.

Suppose you have a string like:

"The dog      has a long   tail, and it     is RED!"

How can we elegantly use regular expressions to ensure that spaces are limited to one space max? Our goal is to transform the string into:

"The dog has a long tail, and it is RED!"

Regex Solution

To achieve our goal, we can utilize the following regular expression:

string = string.replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ');

This regex searches for one or more consecutive spaces (s ) in the string and replaces them with a single space (' '). The 'g' flag ensures that this operation is performed globally, affecting all instances of multiple spaces.

Handling Special Cases

If you want to restrict the replacement to only spaces (excluding tabs, newlines, etc.), you can modify the regex as follows:

string = string.replace(/  +/g, ' ');

Here, the double space (ss) ensures that the regex matches only consecutive spaces and not other types of whitespace.

Implementation in JavaScript/jQuery

You can implement this regex-based solution in JavaScript or jQuery using the following code:

// Using jQuery
$("p").text(function(i, text) {
    return text.replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ');
});

// Using JavaScript
const string = "The dog      has a long   tail, and it     is RED!";
string.replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ');

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