Emacs Init: Whitespace Mode

whitespace-mode Config

whitespace-mode by default is ugly. 〔see Emacs: Show Whitespaces〕

here's how to config it.

put this in your Emacs Init File:

(defun xah-whitespace-mode-config ()
  "Make `whitespace-mode' use simple background coloring.
URL `http://xahlee.info/emacs/emacs/emacs_init_whitespace_mode.html'
Created: 2026-01-08
Version: 2026-01-08"
  (interactive)
  (progn
    (setq whitespace-style (quote (face spaces tabs newline space-mark tab-mark newline-mark)))
    (setq whitespace-display-mappings
          ;; all numbers are unicode codepoint in decimal
          '(
            ;; make SPACE display as · (MIDDLE DOT)
            (space-mark 32 [183])
            ;; make newline display as ¶ (PILCROW SIGN)
            (newline-mark 10 [182 10])
            ;; make tab display as ▷ (WHITE RIGHT-POINTING TRIANGLE)
            (tab-mark 9 [9655 9])))))

(xah-whitespace-mode-config)

Download sample test file: whitespace_sample_file.txt