Why is 'gedit' going back to default tab sizes all the time?

Question

Everytime I open a file in gedit, I have to change again the tab with from 8 to 4, as I prefer it.

Is there any configuration file where I can make 4 the default tab width?

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 03 '11 at 18:00

16

In gedit's menu, go to Edit -> Preferences. When the "gedit Preferences" window pops up, click on the "Editor" tab, and you'll be able to change the Tab Width setting.

answered Oct 03 '11 at 18:00

waltinator

36,399

1

This does not apply to the latest versions of Gedit with GNOME 3. – Flimm May 30 '19 at 13:21
1

@Flimm: In Gedit in Gnome 3, you can find the preferences dialog by clicking on the top bar of the screen, next to "Activities". – Raoul Steffen Aug 09 '19 at 07:53
@RaoulSteffen I don't think there's a Tab Width setting though. – Flimm Aug 09 '19 at 09:25
@Flimm: There is for me. Menu > Preferences > Editor > Tab Stops > Tab width. Looks much like the screenshot jrg posted in his answer. I have got Gedit 3.28.1 (as it came with Ubuntu 18.04). – Raoul Steffen Aug 18 '19 at 13:49

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

12

For GNOME 3, go here

GNOME 2

Go to Edit > Preferences in gedit. Then, switch to the Editor tab:

enter image description here

Edit those preferences to your hearts content.

(Please excuse the ugly GTK theme, the latest Oneiric updates broke my XFCE themes)

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Oct 03 '11 at 19:09

jrg

60,611

This does not apply with the latest versions of Gedit in GNOME 3. – Flimm May 30 '19 at 13:21

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered May 01 '18 at 14:42

9

Open Terminal and type:

gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.editor tabs-size 4

answered May 01 '18 at 14:42

Shubham

275

1

Thank you! This answer works in the latest version of Gedit in GNOME 3. – Flimm May 30 '19 at 13:22
1

Also you need this if you want to edit Python scripts:
gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.editor insert-spaces true

It tells gedit to use spaces instead of tabs.
– Valentin Stoykov Dec 01 '19 at 20:35
I found the insert-spaces with gsettings list-recursively org.gnome.gedit.preferences.editor | grep space. – Valentin Stoykov Dec 01 '19 at 20:48
For auto indentation: gsettings org.gnome.gedit.preferences.editor auto-indent true – Valentin Stoykov Dec 01 '19 at 21:05

Why is 'gedit' going back to default tab sizes all the time?

3 Answers3

GNOME 2