What to do with “Unexpected indent” in python?

Question

How do I rectify the error "unexpected indent" in python?

Answer 1

Make sure you use the option "insert spaces instead of tabs" in your editor. Then you can choose you want a tab width of, for example 4. You can find those options in gedit under edit-->preferences-->editor.

bottom line: USE SPACES not tabs

Answer 2

Python uses spacing at the start of the line to determine when code blocks start and end. Errors you can get are:

Unexpected indent. This line of code has more spaces at the start than the one before, but the one before is not the start of a subblock (e.g. if/while/for statement). All lines of code in a block must start with exactly the same string of whitespace. For instance:

>>> def a():
...   print "foo"
...     print "bar"
IndentationError: unexpected indent

This one is especially common when running python interactively: make sure you don't put any extra spaces before your commands. (Very annoying when copy-and-pasting example code!)

>>>   print "hello"
IndentationError: unexpected indent

Unindent does not match any outer indentation level. This line of code has fewer spaces at the start than the one before, but equally it does not match any other block it could be part of. Python cannot decide where it goes. For instance, in the following, is the final print supposed to be part of the if clause, or not?

>>> if user == "Joey":
...     print "Super secret powers enabled!"
...   print "Revealing super secrets"
IndendationError: unindent does not match any outer indentation level

Expected an indented block. This line of code has the same number of spaces at the start as the one before, but the last line was expected to start a block (e.g. if/while/for statement, function definition).

>>> def foo():
... print "Bar"
IndentationError: expected an indented block

If you want a function that doesn't do anything, use the "no-op" command pass:

>>> def foo():
...     pass

Mixing tabs and spaces is allowed (at least on my version of Python), but Python assumes tabs are 8 characters long, which may not match your editor. Just say "no" to tabs. Most editors allow them to be automatically replaced by spaces.

The best way to avoid these issues is to always use a consistent number of spaces when you indent a subblock, and ideally use a good IDE that solves the problem for you. This will also make your code more readable.

Answer 3

One issue which doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that this error can crop up due to a problem with the code that has nothing to do with indentation.

For example, take the following script:

def add_one(x):
    try:
        return x + 1
add_one(5)

This returns an IndentationError: unexpected unindent when the problem is of course a missing except: statement.

My point: check the code above where the unexpected (un)indent is reported!

Answer 4

If the indentation looks ok then have a look to see if your editor has a "View Whitespace" option. Enabling this should allow to find where spaces and tabs are mixed.

Answer 5

Run your code with the -tt option to find out if you are using tabs and spaces inconsistently

Answer 6

Notepad++ was giving the tab space correct but the indentation problem was finally found in Sublime text editor.

Use Sublime text editor and go line by line