What is text padding?

Padding extends a string to a minimum length by adding extra characters (the fill character) on the left, right, or both sides until the string reaches the target width.

What fill characters can I use?

Any single character: space (default), zero (0), dash (-), dot (.), underscore (_), or any other character you type into the fill-character field.

What happens if the text is already longer than the target width?

The text is left unchanged. Padding only adds characters — it never truncates.

What does "Pad each line" do?

When enabled, every line in the input is padded independently to the target width. When disabled, the entire input is treated as one string.

How does center alignment work?

The tool distributes fill characters evenly on both sides. If the remaining space is odd, the extra character goes to the right side.

Text Pad Tool

Name: Text Pad Tool
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Pad text or each line to a fixed width using any fill character, with left, right, or center alignment.

Input Text

0 characters 0 lines

Padding Settings

Target width

Fill character space

Alignment

Pad each line On

Padded Output

Width Ruler

Target: 20

Copied!

Summary

Pad text or each line to a fixed width using any fill character, with left, right, or center alignment.

How it works

Type or paste your text into the input area.
Set the target width (minimum length) for the padded output.
Choose a fill character — space is the default.
Select an alignment: left, right, or center.
Toggle "Pad each line" to apply padding line by line or to the whole block.
Copy the padded result with one click.

Use cases

Align columns in plain-text tables or reports.
Zero-pad numeric strings for fixed-width file formats.
Center headings in monospace console output.
Right-align labels before values in log lines.
Pad identifiers or codes to a uniform length.
Prepare fixed-width data for legacy systems or CSV imports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-06-09 · Reviewed by Nham Vu