UNEXPAND(1)			  User Commands			     UNEXPAND(1)

NAME
     unexpand - convert spaces to tabs

SYNOPSIS
     unexpand [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
     Convert blanks in each FILE to tabs, writing to standard output.

     With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

     Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

     -a, --all
	    convert all blanks, instead of just initial blanks

     --first-only
	    convert only leading sequences of blanks (overrides -a)

     -t, --tabs=N
	    have tabs N characters apart instead of 8 (enables -a)

     -t, --tabs=LIST
	    use comma separated list of tab positions.	The last specified posi-
	    tion can be prefixed with '/' to specify a tab size to use after the
	    last  explicitly  specified	 tab  stop.  Also a prefix of '+' can be
	    used to align remaining tab stops relative to the last specified tab
	    stop instead of the first column

     --help
	    display this help and exit

     --version
	    output version information and exit

AUTHOR
     Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
     Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
     GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
     General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
     Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright (C) 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.	License GPLv3+: GNU  GPL
     version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
     This  is  free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There
     is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
     expand(1)

     Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/unexpand>
     or available locally via: info '(coreutils) unexpand invocation'

GNU coreutils 9.11		   April 2026			     UNEXPAND(1)