PyCharm 2021.1 Help

Code Style. Python

Use this page to configure formatting options for Python files. When you change these settings, the Preview pane shows how this will affect your code.

Tabs and Indents

Tabs and Indents

ItemDescription
Use tab character
  • If this checkbox is selected, tab characters are used:

    • On pressing the Tab key

    • For indentation

    • For code reformatting

  • When the checkbox is cleared, PyCharm uses spaces instead of tabs.

Smart tabs
  • If this checkbox is selected, the part of indentation defined by the nesting of code blocks, is made of the tabs and (if necessary) spaces, while the part of indentation defined by the alignment is made only of spaces.

  • If this checkbox is cleared, only tabs are used. This means that a group of spaces that fits the specified tab size is automatically replaced with a tab, which may result in breaking fine alignment.

The Smart tabs checkbox is available if the Use tab character checkbox is selected.

Tab sizeIn this field, specify the number of spaces included in a tab.
IndentIn this field, specify the number of spaces to be inserted for each indent level.
Continuation indentIn this field, specify the number of spaces to be inserted between the elements of an array, in expressions, method declarations and method calls.
Keep indents on empty linesIf this checkbox is selected, PyCharm will keep indents on the empty lines as if they contained some code.
If this checkbox is cleared, PyCharm will delete the tab characters and spaces.

Spaces

Use this tab to specify where you want spaces in your code. To have PyCharm automatically insert a space at a location, select the checkbox next to this location in the list. The results are displayed in the preview pane.

Wrapping and braces

In this tab, customize the code style options, which PyCharm will apply on reformatting the source code. The left-hand pane contains the list of exceptions (Keep when reformatting), and placement and alignment options for the various code constructs (lists, statements, operations, annotations, and so on) The right-hand pane shows the preview.

Alignment takes precedence over indentation options.

Hard wrap at

Use the Hard wrap at field to specify a margin space required on the right side of an element. If you select the Default option, then a value of the right margin from the global settings is used.

Wrap on typing

Use the Wrap on typing settings to specify how the edited text is fitted in the specified Hard wrap at:

  • Default: in this case PyCharm uses the Wrap on typing option that is specified in the global settings.

  • Yes: in this case PyCharm uses the value specified in the Right Margin field.

  • No: in this case this option is switched off and a line can exceed the value specified in the right margin.

Visual guides

Use the Visual guides field to specify multiple right margins. You can leave a default value or enter the number of spaces for your margin. If you want to specify several margins, enter numbers separated by comma.

Keep when reformatting

Use the checkboxes to configure exceptions that PyCharm will make when reformatting the source code. For example, by default, the Line breaks checkbox is selected. If your code contains lines that are shorter than a standard convention, you can convert them by disabling the Line breaks checkbox before you reformat the source code.

Ensure right margin is not exceeded

If this checkbox is selected, the formatter will do its best to avoid having document lines exceeding the right margin. This option takes precedence over the Do not wrap wrapping style.

Method declaration parameters

Click the field next to the setting to see the available options:

  • Do not wrap: when this option is selected, no special wrapping style is applied.

    With this option selected, the nested alignment and braces settings are ignored.

  • Wrap if long: select this option to have lines going beyond the right margin wrapped with proper indentation.

  • Wrap always: select this option to have all elements in lists wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

  • Chop down if long: select this option to have elements in lists that go beyond the right margin wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

ItemDescription
Align when multilineIf this checkbox is selected, a code construct starts at the same column on each next line. Otherwise, the position of a code construct is determined by the current indentation level.
New line after ')'Select this checkbox to have the code after the specified character moved to a new line.
Place '(' on the lineSelect this option to have the opening brace placed at the beginning of the line after the declaration line.

Method call arguments

Click the field next to the setting to see the available options:

  • Do not wrap: when this option is selected, no special wrapping style is applied.

    With this option selected, the nested alignment and braces settings are ignored.

  • Wrap if long: select this option to have lines going beyond the right margin wrapped with proper indentation.

  • Wrap always: select this option to have all elements in lists wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

  • Chop down if long: select this option to have elements in lists that go beyond the right margin wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

ItemDescription
Align when multilineIf this checkbox is selected, a code construct starts at the same column on each next line. Otherwise, the position of a code construct is determined by the current indentation level.
New line after ')'Select this checkbox to have the code after the specified character moved to a new line.
Place '(' on the lineSelect this option to have the opening brace placed at the beginning of the line after the call line.

Force new line after colon

With these option you can enable adding a new line after colon in single-clause statements and multi-clause statements (set by default).

Collections and Comprehensions

Select the Align when multiline checkbox to enable alignment of the elements in collections that formatted in several lines.

From import statements

Click the field next to the setting to see the available options:

  • Do not wrap: when this option is selected, no special wrapping style is applied.

    With this option selected, the nested alignment and braces settings are ignored.

  • Wrap if long: select this option to have lines going beyond the right margin wrapped with proper indentation.

  • Wrap always: select this option to have all elements in lists wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

  • Chop down if long: select this option to have elements in lists that go beyond the right margin wrapped, so that there is one element per line with proper indentation.

ItemDescription
Align when multilineIf this checkbox is selected, a code construct starts at the same column on each next line. Otherwise, the position of a code construct is determined by the current indentation level.
New line after ')'Select this checkbox to have the code after the specified character moved to a new line.
Place '(' on the lineSelect this option to have the opening brace placed at the beginning of the line after the import statement line.
Force parentheses if multilineSelect this option to have braces introduced automatically, if a statement occupies more than one line.
Force trailing comma if multilineSelect this option to add a comma automatically, if a statement occupies more than one line.

Dictionary literals

ItemDescription
New line after '}'Select this checkbox to have the code after the specified character moved to a new line.
Place '{' on the lineSelect this option to have the opening brace placed at the beginning of the line after the import statement line.

Hang closing brackets

Select this checkbox to make the closing bracket indented. This option is disabled by default.

Blank lines

Use this tab to define where and how many blank lines you want PyCharm to retain and insert in your code after reformatting. For each type of location, specify the number of blank lines to be inserted. The results are displayed in the preview pane.

ItemDescription
Keep maximum blank linesIn this area, specify the number of blank lines to be kept after reformatting in the specified locations.
Minimum blank lines

In this area, specify the number of blank lines to be present in the specified locations.

Imports

This table lists actions to be performed when imports are optimized.

ItemDescription
Sort import statements

Select or clear this checkbox to enable or disable sorting imports within individual import groups according to PEP 8.

The following checkboxes affect the sorting order.

Sort imported names in "from" imports

If this checkbox is selected, the imports in the from ... import ... statements are sorted alphabetically.

Not selectedSelected
from sys import version, path, modules
from sys import modules, path, version
Sort plain and 'from' imports separately within a group

If this checkbox is not selected, the imports from the same module, regardless of their type, are grouped together, but so that import statements go first, and from ... import ... statements go next.

If this checkbox is selected, the imports are at first sorted by there type (first import, next from ... import ...), and then alphabetically.

Not selectedSelected
import os from os import getenv import sys from sys import path
import os import sys from os import getenv from sys import path
Sort case-insensitively

This checkbox enables case-insensitive sorting of the import statements. By default, the import statements are sorted case-sensitively.

Not selectedSelected
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from django.http import cookie from django.shortcuts import render from django.urls import reverse
from django.http import cookie from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from django.shortcuts import render from django.urls import reverse
Structure of "from" imports
Leave as is

If this checkbox is selected, the "from" imports won't be restructured.

Join imports with the same source

If this checkbox is selected, the "from" imports of the same source are combined.

Not selectedSelected
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect, HttpResponse from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render
Always split imports

If this checkbox is selected, the "from" imports are always placed separately.

Not selectedSelected
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.http import HttpResponse from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404 from django.shortcuts import render

Other

ItemDescription
Dict alignment

From the drop-down list, select the type of dict alignment:

  • Do not align: the dict 's elements in sequential lines will be not aligned.

  • Align on colon: the dict 's elements in sequential lines will be aligned against the colon.

  • Align on value: the dict 's elements in sequential lines will be aligned against the value.

Add line feed at the end of fileSelect this checkbox to add line feed character at the end of file.
Use continuation indent forSelect the Method call argument checkbox to use continuation indent for list of arguments and the Collections and comprehensions checkbox for multi-line collection literals and comprehensions. By default, the Method declaration parameters is selected, so that parameters within a method be indented using the continuation indent value. The value of the continuation indent is defined in the Tabs and Indents tab. If these checkboxes are not selected, then the indent value is used.

Set from...

Click this link to reveal the list of languages to be used as the base for the current language code style. Only the settings that are applicable to the current language are taken. All the other settings are not affected.

This link appears in the upper-right corner of the language-specific code style page, when applicable.

Click Reset to discard changes and return to the initial set of code style settings.

Last modified: 08 March 2021