# Change auto-indent amount (preferences)

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450>\
**Category:** Processing\
**Created:** [March 11, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450 "2021-03-11T19:05:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![iansebryk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/iansebryk/32/12348_2.png) [@iansebryk](https://discourse.processing.org/u/iansebryk)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/1 "2021-03-11T19:05:57Z")

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is there a way to reconfigure the auto indent? 10 chars is a excessive, irritating, and counter-productive. 2-4 chars is the standard and this should be the default from the get go.

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**Author:** ![micuat](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/micuat/32/19407_2.png) [@micuat](https://discourse.processing.org/u/micuat)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/2 "2021-03-11T19:16:49Z")

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Hi, welcome to the forum! I see your frustration but let’s calm down a bit as this is a community.

Could you tell us what editor you are talking about? Processing IDE seems to have 2 characters (whitespaces) by default…

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**Author:** ![iansebryk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/iansebryk/32/12348_2.png) [@iansebryk](https://discourse.processing.org/u/iansebryk)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/3 "2021-03-11T22:58:56Z")

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![2021-03-11_responseToProgressionPost-001](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/processingfoundation1/original/2X/8/8ba851bad883269e0059e28eb9701651610e9fa6.png)

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**Author:** ![micuat](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/micuat/32/19407_2.png) [@micuat](https://discourse.processing.org/u/micuat)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/4 "2021-03-11T23:32:42Z")

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ok you are not frustrated, but however you feel, please be nice and respect others because Processing is made and maintained by volunteers and this forum is not a customer service.

what you wrote in the screenshot is not a code and that may be the reason that it’s not indented in a correct way. Also it shows the python mode - do you code with processing.py?

Processing IDE is not really customizable and if I need to customize it I use VSCode with a [plugin](https://github.com/TobiahZ/processing-vscode) but not sure if it works in python mode.

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**Author:** ![CodeMasterX](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/codemasterx/32/2942_2.png) [@CodeMasterX](https://discourse.processing.org/u/CodeMasterX)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/5 "2021-03-12T09:05:46Z")

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I too have the issue with processing.py, when I use tab, it just indents like 50 characters. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t code in .py mode anymore

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**Author:** ![Chrisir](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/chrisir/32/45_2.png) [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 9:56am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/6 "2021-03-12T09:56:51Z")

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actually:

there is a preference dialog in File | preferences.

There you don’t find anything for indents.

BUT you can load the the preferences.txt file from there by double clicking it in the dialog. Edit it when processing is NOT OPEN (so close dialog and processing now).

Here you want to change:

`editor.tabs.size=4`

Then save txt file and start processing.

I tested it with java mode, dunno about py mode though

Chrisir

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**Author:** ![iansebryk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/iansebryk/32/12348_2.png) [@iansebryk](https://discourse.processing.org/u/iansebryk)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/7 "2021-03-23T00:10:21Z")

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thanks guys. we’ve decided to drop Processing entirely as this is more of a toy than a tool as far as what we were looking for. that may not be the case for Java, but for Python, definitely. it was also far too confusing when trying to discuss _actual processing_ without having to include a differentiation as to what we were talking about. coding is challenging enough without having to introduce that verbal tap-dance.

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**Author:** ![josephh](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/josephh/32/210_2.png) [@josephh](https://discourse.processing.org/u/josephh)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/change-auto-indent-amount-preferences/28450/8 "2021-03-23T00:54:30Z")

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Hi @iansebryk ,

Please note that Processing is an open source software and therefore it can have bugs and things that don’t work as many other softwares.

What is different is that here, some people are contributing for free to the project in their free time and you should be tolerant over how some features might work or not 😉

The code is hosted on GitHub so feel free to check it out and open an issue :

> **[jdf/processing.py](https://github.com/jdf/processing.py)**
>
> Write Processing sketches in Python. Contribute to jdf/processing.py development by creating an account on GitHub.