Convert spaces before punctuation into nothing

This tool converts spaces before punctuation into nothing—that is, it removes any space(s) immediately preceding punctuation characters. You can choose from various modes: remove all spaces before punctuation, remove spaces only before specified punctuation marks, replace those spaces with a custom placeholder, or remove only extra spaces (collapsing multiple spaces to none while leaving a single space intact). Simply enter your text, adjust the desired option below, and click the process button.

Input Text

Output Text

Extraction Modes:

Remove All Spaces Before Punctuation
Removes every space immediately preceding any punctuation character.

Remove Spaces Before Specified Punctuation
Removes spaces only before punctuation marks specified by you. Enter a comma‑separated list (e.g., , , . , !, ?).

Replace Spaces Before Punctuation with Custom Placeholder
Instead of removing, replaces spaces before any punctuation with a custom placeholder. Use {placeholder} as a placeholder.

Remove Only Extra Spaces Before Punctuation
If there is more than one space before punctuation, removes all spaces; if there is exactly one, leaves it intact.

Examples:

Remove All Spaces Before Punctuation

Every space before any punctuation is removed.

Before:

Hello , world ! This is a test .

After:

Hello, world! This is a test.

Remove Spaces Before Specified Punctuation

Removes spaces only before punctuation marks you specify. (In this example, only commas and exclamation marks.)

Before:

Hello , world ! How are you ?

After (specified: ,, !):

Hello, world! How are you ?

Replace Spaces Before Punctuation with Custom Placeholder

Instead of removing, spaces before punctuation are replaced with the custom placeholder "[SPACE]".

Before:

Good morning , everyone !

After (placeholder "[SPACE]"):

Good morning[SPACE], everyone[SPACE]!

Remove Only Extra Spaces Before Punctuation

If there is exactly one space before punctuation, it is preserved; if there are multiple spaces, they are all removed.

Before:

Hello  ,  world  ! This  is a test .

After:

Hello, world! This is a test.