Line Ending Converter Free Online Tool 2026

Last updated March 22, 2026

Detecting Line Endings in a File

Before converting, the tool detects what line endings your text currently uses:

Input text analysis:
─────────────────────────────────────────
Line ending type: Windows CRLF (\r\n)
Total lines: 45
Total CRLF sequences: 44
Total LF-only sequences: 0
Total CR-only sequences: 0

Recommendation: Convert to LF for Linux/Mac deployment

This detection is especially useful when you receive a file and aren't sure what format it's in before processing it.

Converting Windows CRLF to Unix LF

The most common conversion — preparing a file edited on Windows for deployment on a Linux server:

Input (Windows format, showing invisible characters):
line one\r\n
line two\r\n
line three\r\n

Settings: Convert CRLF → LF

Output (Unix format):
line one\n
line two\n
line three\n

Changes made:
- 3 CRLF sequences converted to LF
- File size reduced by 3 bytes (one \r removed per line)

This is critical for shell scripts, Python files, and configuration files that will run on Linux servers.

Fixing a Shell Script That Fails on Linux

A bash script edited on Windows fails with cryptic errors on Linux. The issue is CRLF line endings:

Error on Linux:
bash: $'\r': command not found
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `$'\r''

Cause: The \r character is being interpreted as part of the command name.

Fix: Convert the script from CRLF to LF

Before (CRLF):
#!/bin/bash\r\n
echo "Hello World"\r\n
cd /var/www\r\n

After (LF only):
#!/bin/bash\n
echo "Hello World"\n
cd /var/www\n

The script now runs correctly on Linux.

Converting Unix LF to Windows CRLF

When a file needs to be opened in Windows Notepad (which doesn't handle LF-only files well in older versions):

Input (Unix format):
line one\n
line two\n
line three\n

Settings: Convert LF → CRLF

Output (Windows format):
line one\r\n
line two\r\n
line three\r\n

Changes made:
- 3 LF sequences converted to CRLF
- File size increased by 3 bytes

Handling Mixed Line Endings

Files edited on multiple platforms can have mixed line endings — some lines with CRLF, others with LF:

Input analysis:
Line ending type: MIXED
  CRLF sequences: 12
  LF-only sequences: 8
  CR-only sequences: 0

This file has inconsistent line endings, likely edited on
both Windows and Unix systems.

Settings: Normalize to LF

Output:
All 20 line endings converted to LF.
File now has consistent Unix line endings.

Mixed line endings are a common cause of Git showing files as entirely modified even when only a few lines changed.

Converting Old Mac CR to Modern LF

Classic Mac OS (pre-OS X) used CR-only line endings. These files are rare but still encountered:

Input analysis:
Line ending type: Classic Mac CR (\r)
Total lines: 30
Total CR-only sequences: 29

Settings: Convert CR → LF

Output:
29 CR sequences converted to LF.
File now uses Unix/Linux line endings.

Nginx Configuration File Fix

An Nginx config file edited on Windows causes issues on the Linux server:

Before (CRLF — causes Nginx to misread directives):
server {\r\n
    listen 80;\r\n
    server_name example.com;\r\n
    root /var/www/html;\r\n
}\r\n

After converting to LF:
server {\n
    listen 80;\n
    server_name example.com;\n
    root /var/www/html;\n
}\n

Result: nginx -t now passes without errors.

Git Line Ending Troubleshooting

When Git shows a file as entirely modified despite no visible changes, line endings are usually the cause:

Git diff shows:
-line one\r
+line one
-line two\r
+line two

This means the file has CRLF endings but Git expects LF.

Fix options:
1. Convert the file to LF using the Line Ending Converter
2. Add a .gitattributes file:
   * text=auto
   *.sh text eol=lf
   *.bat text eol=crlf

After converting to LF and committing:
Git diff shows no changes — the file is clean.

CSV File Processing Fix

A CSV parser fails because the file has CRLF endings but the parser expects LF:

Error: CSV parser returning extra \r in field values
  Row 1, Field 3: "New York\r" (unexpected carriage return)

Cause: File has CRLF line endings; parser only strips \n

Fix: Convert CRLF to LF before processing

Before:
"Alice","30","New York"\r\n
"Bob","25","Chicago"\r\n

After (LF only):
"Alice","30","New York"\n
"Bob","25","Chicago"\n

Parser now reads field values correctly without trailing \r.

Conversion Statistics

The tool always shows a summary of what was changed:

Conversion Summary:
─────────────────────────────────────────
Input format:  Windows CRLF (\r\n)
Output format: Unix LF (\n)

Lines processed: 156
Line endings converted: 155
Characters removed: 155 (\r characters)

Input size:  8,432 bytes
Output size: 8,277 bytes
Size reduction: 155 bytes (1.8%)