Text Wrapper: Wrap Long Lines to Any Column Width Online
What is a Text Wrapper? A text wrapper reformats long lines of text so they never exceed a chosen character limit - such as 72, 80, or 120 columns. This tool offers two modes: soft wrap (breaks only at spaces, preserving whole words) and hard wrap (cuts at the exact column, even mid-word). A built-in visual ruler makes column alignment instantly visible.
What is the Text Wrapper Tool?
The Text Wrapper is a browser-based formatting utility that enforces a maximum line length on any block of text. Whether you are drafting a README file, composing a plain-text email, writing code comments, or preparing output for a fixed-width terminal, this tool makes sure every line stays within your target column width.
Unlike a simple fold command, this tool gives you full control: choose between word-boundary and character-boundary wrapping, toggle paragraph preservation, and verify your output with a numbered column ruler - all without leaving your browser.
Why Wrap Text to a Fixed Width?
1. Compatibility with Old Email Systems and RFC Standards
RFC 5322 recommends email lines no longer than 78 characters, with a hard limit of 998. Many SMTP servers and mail clients still enforce these limits, and exceeding them can mangle your message or trigger spam filters. The Text Wrapper produces compliant plain-text email bodies in seconds.
2. README Files and Documentation
While GitHub renders Markdown dynamically, many developers review READMEs directly in terminal pagers like less or more. Limiting lines to 80 columns ensures your documentation is readable in any environment, including SSH sessions and old monitors.
3. Source Code Comments and Commit Messages
Style guides for many programming languages (Python's PEP 8, GNU coding standards) recommend 79-80 columns for comments and docstrings. Git commit message bodies are conventionally wrapped at 72 characters so they display correctly in git log --oneline and email patches.
4. Terminal and CLI Output
Classic terminals default to 80 columns. Wrapping text before outputting it prevents unwanted line breaks that can misalign tables, break ANSI escape sequences, or disrupt pagers.
Hard Wrap vs. Soft Wrap - Which to Choose?
Soft Wrap (Word Wrap)
Soft wrap breaks lines only at whitespace boundaries, preserving whole words. A line that would exceed the column limit is broken before the last word that fits. This is the right choice for prose, emails, and documentation - anywhere human readability matters.
Hard Wrap (Character Wrap)
Hard wrap cuts at exactly the column limit, splitting words if necessary. This matches the behaviour of the Unix fold command and is appropriate for fixed-width binary formats, certain SMTP protocols, and legacy systems that require strict line length compliance regardless of word boundaries.
How to Use the Text Wrapper
- Paste or upload your text into the input area.
- Set the column width using the slider (40-200 columns). Common presets: 72 for emails, 80 for code, 120 for wide monitors.
- Choose Soft or Hard wrap depending on whether you need word-safe or strict character-limit wrapping.
- Enable "Show Visual Ruler" to display a numbered column guide above the output and check for overlong lines.
- Copy or download the wrapped output.
Common Use Cases
Git Commit Messages
Wrap commit message bodies to 72 characters so they render correctly in git log, email patches, and GitHub's UI.
Plain-Text Emails
Keep every line under 78 characters to comply with RFC 5322 and prevent mangling by SMTP relay servers.
Code Comments & Docstrings
Auto-wrap inline documentation to 79 or 80 columns to satisfy PEP 8, JSDoc, and other style guides.
Terminal Scripts & Man Pages
Ensure help text and script output wrap cleanly in 80-column terminals without depending on the terminal's own wrapping.
Markdown README Files
Wrap raw Markdown source so diffs remain readable in side-by-side views and raw-file pagers.
Legacy System Integration
Format data exports that must conform to column-width requirements imposed by mainframe or EDI systems.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What column width should I use?
72 - Git commit message bodies and plain-text patches.
78-80 - Source code, PEP 8 compliant Python, general plain text.
100-120 - Modern codebases with wide-screen workflows (e.g., Google Java Style).
When in doubt, 80 is the most universally supported.
Will soft wrap ever break a single long word?
If a single word is longer than the column width, soft wrap has no choice but to place it on its own line unbroken. It will never split the word itself. Use hard wrap if you need strict per-character cutting.
Does "Preserve paragraph breaks" change how wrapping works?
Yes. When enabled, each paragraph (separated by one or more blank lines) is wrapped independently, so a short paragraph does not get merged with the next one. When disabled, the entire text is treated as one block.
What does the visual ruler show?
The ruler displays a numbered tick-mark row above the output, with markers every 5 and 10 columns. It lets you quickly verify no line exceeds your chosen width without counting characters manually.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The entire wrapping algorithm runs inside your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded to our servers - your text stays completely private.
Conclusion
The Text Wrapper gives you precise, mode-aware control over line length - from word-safe email formatting to strict character-limit wrapping for legacy systems. With the visual ruler and live stats, you can confirm your output meets any column-width requirement before copying it anywhere.