Python Basics: Formatting Plain Text with textwrap

Readable help messages and short previews make command-line scripts easier to use. Python’s standard-library textwrap module provides a few useful formatting tools.

Use Python 3.12 or newer in Bash on Linux. These independent examples use only in-memory text and do not read or change data files.

Wrap a paragraph

This sample message is narrow enough to show wrapping in a small terminal.

Save as demo_textwrap_1.py:

import textwrap

message = "Check the queue before starting another batch of jobs."
print(textwrap.fill(message, width=24))
print("Lines:", len(textwrap.wrap(message, width=24)))

Run it from the directory where you saved it:

python3 demo_textwrap_1.py

Output:

Check the queue before
starting another batch
of jobs.
Lines: 3

fill() returns one string with line breaks. wrap() returns a list of lines. Both handle a single paragraph; wrap separate paragraphs individually when blank lines matter.

By default, long words can be split. To keep identifiers intact, set both break_long_words=False and break_on_hyphens=False; a long identifier can then exceed width.

Remove shared indentation

Triple-quoted strings can carry unwanted indentation from their source code. Here the first line starts immediately after the opening quotes because of the backslash.

Save as demo_textwrap_2.py:

import textwrap

message = """\
    Tasks:
      check queue
      start worker
"""
clean = textwrap.dedent(message)
print(textwrap.indent(clean, "> "), end="")

Run it from the directory where you saved it:

python3 demo_textwrap_2.py

Output:

> Tasks:
>   check queue
>   start worker

dedent() removes the common leading whitespace while preserving relative indentation. Tabs and spaces are distinct, so use consistent indentation. indent() prefixes nonblank lines by default. end="" avoids adding another newline after this string’s existing one.

Make a short preview

Save as demo_textwrap_3.py:

import textwrap

message = "  Check   the queue before starting another batch.  "
preview = textwrap.shorten(message, width=25, placeholder="...")
print(preview)
print("Length:", len(preview))

Run it from the directory where you saved it:

python3 demo_textwrap_3.py

Output:

Check the queue before...
Length: 25

shorten() collapses whitespace, then drops words from the end as needed. The placeholder counts toward the width and must fit. This makes a compact preview, but it can omit important details: keep the full message available.

These functions format plain text. They do not preserve Markdown or HTML structure. Choose explicit widths for predictable examples; terminal size and display requirements can vary.

References

• Python textwrap documentation

Acknowledgements

This post was created with assistance from AI.