Find Shortest Line
Find the shortest non-empty line, its line number, length and tie count.
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Input
Found live, ignoring whitespace-only lines. Nothing is stored.
Result
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Paste lines above to search them.
Find Shortest Line returns the narrowest non-empty line in a block of text, with its line number, its length and how many lines share that length. It is a useful audit question: a line that is much shorter than its neighbours can be a truncated record, a missing field, a stray heading or a row that lost its content during an export. The check is deliberately narrow. Length is counted in code points rather than rendered width, whitespace-only lines are ignored so a blank separator cannot win, and decimals or punctuation are counted as characters because they occupy the line. The tie count tells you whether one suspicious line is alone or whether a whole group is short, which changes the diagnosis. Only the first matching line is displayed to keep the result readable. It is the tool for data-quality spot checks, finding truncated rows in pasted output, and balancing lines in a fixed-width layout. A short line can also be a legitimate heading, a separator or a footer, so the number is evidence rather than proof. Compare the short line with its neighbours before treating it as corruption; a lone outlier points at a truncated field, while a block of short lines usually means a structural element that was always meant to be short. Because the tool reports only the first match, a file with many short structural lines may hide a genuinely truncated row; search again after removing known separators if that matters. If every line is the same length, the tie count equals the number of non-empty lines; that is a useful signal that the file is a fixed-width table rather than a damaged list. A tie count equal to the number of lines is normal for a fixed-width table, not a fault; the content still decides whether the short line is intentional.
How to use Find Shortest Line
- Paste the lines to search.
- Read the shortest line, its number and the tie count.
- Copy the line or clear to start over.
What you get
- The first shortest non-empty line and its 1-based line number.
- Its length in code points, the tie count and the number of non-empty lines counted.
- A statement that whitespace-only lines are ignored.
When to use Find Shortest Line
- Spot a truncated record in a pasted export.
- Find the line that lost its content during a copy.
- Check the shortest row before balancing a fixed-width layout.
Frequently asked questions about Find Shortest Line
Why is a blank line not the shortest?
Whitespace-only lines are ignored on purpose; otherwise every empty separator would tie at zero and the result would be useless.
Does this find truncated rows?
It can point at them. A line far shorter than its neighbours is a candidate, but the tool cannot know whether content was meant to be there.
Are tabs expanded?
No. A tab counts as one code point, not as a number of columns, so visual width may differ.
Is my text uploaded?
No. The search runs in your browser; nothing is sent to a server or stored.
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