Regex tricks – Remove empty lines with Notepad++ and Vim

Quickie guide for removing empty lines with Notepad+ and Vim

Example text:

PermitRootLogin prohibit-password








AuthorizedKeysFile      .ssh/authorized_keys

Notepad++

To remove commented lines from files we can use the following expression in Notepad++:

^\h*\R

The expression marks all the lines that start with possible white characters only.

Those lines are replaced with nothing, so technically they are removed.

To see how to remove leading and trailing spaces with Notepad++, click here.

Vim

Use the following command in command mode:

:g:^\s*$:d

For a guide on how to remove leading and trailing spaces in Vim, check out the guide here.