Word Wrap

Wrap any text to a specific line width — clean, predictable, immediate

Word wrap is the process of inserting line breaks into text so that no line exceeds a chosen character width. It comes up constantly: email bodies that should not exceed 76 characters per line, code comments that need to stay under 80 or 100 characters depending on style guide, plain-text documents that need a fixed reading width, and printed material that needs to fit a specific column. This Word Wrap tool does it precisely, breaking at word boundaries so that no individual word is split.

How to use it

Drop your long-form text, email body, or documentation draft into the editor. Set the desired line width — 72 for traditional email standards, 76 for most modern plain-text email, 80 for old terminal conventions, 88 for the Black Python formatter, 100 for many modern code style guides, or any custom value. Click Wrap. The output appears with line breaks inserted at the last space before each width limit. Long words that exceed the limit on their own are left intact (no mid-word breaking), so URLs and unbroken strings remain readable.

Why line width matters

Readability research consistently shows that lines of 50–75 characters are most comfortable for sustained reading. Beyond about 90 characters, the eye loses its place tracking from the end of one line to the start of the next, and reading slows. Below about 40 characters, the eye has to jump too often. Most published books target around 65 characters per line — a sweet spot that has been refined over centuries of typography.

In digital contexts, the constraints are different. Email standards descend from the 80-character punched-card era, with 72–76 being polite to mailing-list archivers and older email clients. Code style guides target line lengths that make diffs and code reviews work well on standard monitors. Print documents often want to match a fixed column width for layout.

Real-world uses

Plain-text email. Many mailing lists and Usenet archives expect 72-character lines, and some older email clients still display long lines awkwardly. Wrapping your message to that width is a courtesy that costs nothing.

Code comments and docstrings. A well-formatted code comment respects the project's line-length limit. Writing the comment freely and then wrapping it produces clean code that passes linting.

Plain-text technical documentation. README files, changelog entries, and other plain-text docs are easier to read when wrapped consistently. A 72- or 80-character width is a common choice.

Subtitles and captions. Subtitle lines should not exceed a certain width on screen — typically about 42 characters per line. Wrapping a script to that width is a starting point for subtitle preparation.

Printed material. A flyer, poster, or printed quote often needs to fit a specific column width. Wrapping the text first gives you exact control before laying out.

Terminal output formatting. Anything destined to be printed in a terminal looks better wrapped to 80 characters — the traditional terminal width. Modern terminals can be wider, but 80 remains a polite default for compatibility.

Pre-formatted text in HTML. Content inside <pre> tags is displayed exactly as written, with no automatic wrapping. Pre-wrapping it makes it look right in any container width.

How word wrap handles edge cases

Long words. A URL or hash that is longer than the wrap width is not broken — it stays on its own line. This is correct behaviour because breaking a URL would make it invalid. If you need to break long words (for example, to fit a hard column width), that requires character-level wrapping rather than word wrapping; use Find & Replace or a more specific tool.

Existing line breaks. The tool can either preserve them (treating each input line as a separate paragraph) or collapse them first (treating the whole input as one continuous flow). Collapsing is right when you are reformatting content that was wrapped to a different width. Preserving is right when your input has intentional paragraph breaks you want to keep.

Indentation and lists. When wrapping a list, each item is wrapped independently and the wrapping preserves any indentation prefix on that line. This keeps list structure intact while shortening individual entries.

Privacy

Word wrapping is a pure-string operation that runs in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, stored, or logged. Safe for any content, including confidential documents and proprietary code.