Remove Line Numbers

Strip leading line numbers from pasted code or lists.

Numbered text

Without numbers

Lines: 0Characters: 0

How line-number removal works

When you copy code from an editor, a blog, or a PDF, each line often comes with a leading number like 1., 1), or 1:. This tool removes a leading number — with or without a trailing separator — from the start of every line, so you get clean, runnable text back. It only strips numbers at the very start of a line, and all processing happens in your browser.

More text tools: add line numbers, remove line breaks, and remove empty lines.

Built and maintained by Meet Shah · Last updated 5 August 2026

What this tool is used for

Cleaning a code snippet copied from a page that rendered line numbers.
Stripping numbering from a pasted listing so the code will run.
Removing numbering from a transcript before editing it.
Cleaning a diff or a log excerpt that carried line prefixes.
Preparing pasted code for a file without hand-deleting each prefix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which numbering formats does it strip?: A number at the start of a line followed by . ) : | ] or by whitespace — so "1. ", "12) ", "3: ", "7|" and a tab-separated gutter all work. Indentation in front of the number is matched and removed along with it.
Why did the year at the start of my line disappear?: Because "2024 was a good year" begins with digits and a space, which is exactly the shape of a numbered line, so it becomes "was a good year". Check the output before copying whenever your text legitimately starts with a number.
What happens to nested numbering like 1.1?: Only the first number and its separator go, so "1.1 Introduction" comes back as "1 Introduction". Run it a second time to strip the remainder, or use a find-and-replace with a regex when the whole document is multi-level.
Does it preserve indentation in pasted code?: No. The whitespace after the number is matched greedily, so "12 const x = 1" comes back flush left as "const x = 1". That is right for prose lists but destroys the shape of code — re-indent afterwards, or paste from a source without a gutter.
Does it touch numbers elsewhere in the line?: No — the pattern is anchored to the start of a line, so "Step 1. Mix" and "see item 3)" are untouched. Digits mean ASCII 0–9 only, so Arabic-Indic or Devanagari numerals are left in place.
How does it avoid stripping numbers that are part of the code?: By anchoring to the start of the line and requiring the separator that follows — a leading number plus a colon, a tab or aligned spaces. A number appearing anywhere else on the line is left alone.

Common errors and gotchas

Stripping a number that was part of the content, such as an ordered list item.
Assuming one numbering style, since '1.', '1)', '1:' and bare digits all appear.
Leaving the separator behind, so every line starts with a stray colon or bracket.
Removing indentation along with the number, which matters in Python and YAML.
Missing continuation lines that had no number, so alignment ends up inconsistent.