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Line Break Symbol Finder

Spot which line break symbols exist in your text with counts. This Line Break Symbol Finder detects Windows (CRLF), Unix (LF), and classic Mac (CR) line endings to help identify formatting issues.

Whether you call it find line breaks or line ending detector, this free tool handles it instantly in your browser.

18 chars3 words
18 characters, 3 words
Live preview
CRLF: 1 | LF: 1

Example usage

Example input

line1 line2 line3

Example output

CRLF: 1 | LF: 1

Batch Processing

Enter multiple inputs, one per line. Each line will be processed separately.

Why this tool?

Everything runs right in your browser — no uploads, no sign-up, no waiting. Your text never leaves your device.

Quick tips

  • •Outputs update live as you type.
  • •Use the sticky copy button to grab results quickly.
  • •Bookmark this page for fast access.

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How it works

  • The tool scans for Windows, Unix, and classic Mac line endings.
  • Counts are summarized for quick debugging.
  • Use the insight before cleaning or importing data.

Use cases

Detect mixed line endings in code.
Check copy/paste issues before CSV import.
Explain formatting issues to teammates.

Why line breaks are invisible troublemakers

A "line break" is not one thing. Windows traditionally ends lines with two characters, carriage return plus line feed (CRLF, \r\n), while macOS and Linux use a bare line feed (LF, \n), and pre-2001 Macs used a bare carriage return (CR, \r). Text also picks up exotic breaks along the way: Unicode line separator (U+2028), paragraph separator (U+2029), and vertical tab characters that some office software emits for soft line breaks.

These all look identical on screen, which is why a CSV that works on one computer breaks on another, why a regex fails to match across lines, and why a form rejects text that looks perfectly normal. This tool makes each break visible and labels which kind it is, so you can see exactly what you are dealing with instead of guessing.

Typical debugging session

Suppose a spreadsheet import splits one row into two. Paste the offending text here and inspect the symbols: if you see a stray LF inside a quoted field, the file mixes CRLF row endings with LF characters inside cells — most import tools have a setting for exactly this. If you see U+2028, the text was likely copied from a web page or an Apple app; replace those with normal line breaks before importing.

Once you know which break is the problem, fix it with our Remove Line Breaks tool, or use Find and Replace to convert one break style to another.

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Conversion History

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FAQ

Which endings are detected?

CRLF (\r\n), LF (\n), and CR (\r).

Does it modify the text?

No, it only reports symbols; your input stays intact.