CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonindentationpython-2.x
cbrulak
cbrulak

Reputation: 15629

IndentationError: unindent does not match any outer indentation level, although the indentation looks correct

When I compile the Python code below, I get

IndentationError: unindent does not match any outer indentation level

import sys

def Factorial(n): # Return factorial
    result = 1
    for i in range (1,n):
        result = result * i
    print "factorial is ",result
    return result

Why?

Upvotes: 809

Views: 2710843

Answers (30)

SpiRail
SpiRail

Reputation: 1415

I actually get this in Pylint from a bracket in the wrong place.

I'm adding this answer, because I sent a lot of time looking for tabs. In this case, it has nothing to do with tabs or spaces.

    def some_instance_function(self):

        json_response = self.some_other_function()

        def compare_result(json_str, variable):
            """
            Sub function for comparison
            """
            json_value = self.json_response.get(json_str, f"{json_str} not found")

            if str(json_value) != str(variable):
                logging.error("Error message: %s, %s",
                    json_value,
                    variable) # <-- Putting the bracket here causes the error below
                    #) <-- Moving the bracket here fixes the issue
                return False
            return True

        logging.debug("Response: %s", self.json_response)
        #        ^----The pylint error reports here

Upvotes: -1

WangSung
WangSung

Reputation: 319

If you use Colaboratory, then you can do this to avoid the error by these commands:

  1. Ctrl + A
  2. Tab
  3. Shift + Tab

It's all [tab] indentation converted to [space] indentation. Then OK.

Upvotes: 10

questionto42
questionto42

Reputation: 9532

I had the same error because of another thing, and it was not about tabs vs. spaces. I had the first if slightly more indented than an else: much further down. If it is just about a space or two; you might oversee it after a long code block. The same thing with docstrings:

"""comment comment 
comment
"""

They also need to be aligned; see the other answer on the same page here.

Reproducible with a few lines:

if a==1:
    print('test')
 else:
    print('test2')

Throws:

  File "<ipython-input-127-52bbac35ad7d>", line 3
    else:
         ^
IndentationError: unindent does not match any outer indentation level

Upvotes: 0

Rahal Danthanarayana
Rahal Danthanarayana

Reputation: 748

I'm using Sublime Text in the Ubuntu OS. To fix this issue, go to:

Menu View → Indentation → Convert indentation to tabs.

Upvotes: 6

Devil
Devil

Reputation: 1174

Using Visual Studio Code

If you are using Visual Studio Code, then it will convert all mixed indentation to either space or tabs using these simple steps below.

  1. press Ctrl + Shift + P

  2. type indent using spaces

  3. Press Enter

Upvotes: 15

Bartleby
Bartleby

Reputation: 1431

I got this error even though I didn't have any tabs in my code, and the reason was there was a superfluous closing parenthesis somewhere in my code. I should have figured this out earlier, because it was messing up spaces before and after some equal signs...

If you find anything off even after running Reformat code in your IDE (or manually running autopep8), make sure all your parentheses match, starting backwards from the weird spaces before/after the first equals sign.

Upvotes: 1

bmc
bmc

Reputation: 857

I am using Sublime Text 3 with a Flask project. I fixed the error using menu View → Indentation → Tab Width: 4 after unselected Indent Using Spaces.

Upvotes: 2

Ayush Aryan
Ayush Aryan

Reputation: 221

For example:

1. def convert_distance(miles):
2.   km = miles * 1.6
3.   return km

In this code, the same situation occurred for me. Just delete the previous indent spaces of line 2 and 3, and then either use tab or space. Never use both. Give proper indentation while writing code in Python.

For Spyder, go to menu Source → Fix Indentation. The same goes for Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text or any other editor. Fix the indentation.

Upvotes: 2

Abdulbasith
Abdulbasith

Reputation: 149

For Spyder users, go to

menu Source → Fix Indentation

to fix the issue immediately.

Upvotes: 12

plfrick
plfrick

Reputation: 1139

For what it’s worth, my docstring was indented too much and this also throws the same error

class junk:
     """docstring is indented too much"""
    def fun(): return

IndentationError: unindent does not match any outer indentation level

Upvotes: 7

Cur123
Cur123

Reputation: 89

I was using Jupyter Notebook and tried almost all of the solutions in previous answers (adapting to my scenario) to no use. I then went line by line, deleted all spaces for each line and replaced with tab. That solved the issue.

Upvotes: 4

Cedric
Cedric

Reputation: 5303

I had a function defined, but it did not have any content apart from its function comments...

def foo(bar):
    # Some awesome temporary comment.
    # But there is actually nothing in the function!
    # D'Oh!

It yelled:

  File "foobar.py", line 69

                                ^
IndentationError: expected an indented block

(note that the line the ^ mark points to is empty)

--

Multiple solutions:

1: Just comment out the function

2: Add function comment

def foo(bar):
    '' Some awesome comment. This comment could be just one space.''

3: Add a line that does not do anything

def foo(bar):
    0

In any case, make sure to make it obvious why it is an empty function - for yourself, or for your peers that will use your code.

Upvotes: 1

NelsonGon
NelsonGon

Reputation: 13309

Since I realize there isn't any answer specific to Spyder, I'll add one:

Basically, carefully look at your if statement and make sure all ifs, elifs and elses have the same spacing, that is, they're at the same line at the start like so:

def your_choice(answer):
    if answer>5:
        print("You're overaged")
    elif answer<=5 and answer>1:
            print("Welcome to the toddler's club!")
    else:
            print("No worries, mate!")

Upvotes: 2

Aha
Aha

Reputation: 134

For Atom users, Packages → white space → remove trailing white spaces. This worked for me.

Upvotes: 1

user3731311
user3731311

Reputation: 61

I had the same issue yesterday. It was an indentation error. I was using the Sublime Text editor.

It took my hours trying to fix it, and at the end I ended up copying the code into the vi text editor. It just worked fine.

PS: Python is too whitespace sensitive. Make sure not to mix spaces and tabs.

Upvotes: 0

nyumerics
nyumerics

Reputation: 6547

Important:

Spaces are the preferred method - see PEP 8 Indentation and Tabs or Spaces?. (Thanks to @Siha for this.)

For Sublime Text users:

Set Sublime Text to use tabs for indentation: Menu View → Indentation → Convert Indentation to Tabs

Uncheck the Indent Using Spaces option as well in the same sub-menu above. This will immediately resolve this issue.

Upvotes: 333

Jackie Lee
Jackie Lee

Reputation: 239

If you use Notepad++, do a "replace" with extended search mode to find \t and replace with four spaces.

Upvotes: 9

Eragon
Eragon

Reputation: 11

This is because there is a mix up of both tabs and spaces. You can either remove all the spaces and replace them with tabs.

Or, try writing this:

#!/usr/bin/python -tt

at the beginning of the code. This line resolves any differences between tabs and spaces.

Upvotes: 1

Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe

Reputation: 21161

One possible cause for this error is that there might be spaces mixed with tabs for indentation. Try doing a search & replace to replace all tabs with a few spaces.

Try this:

import sys

def Factorial(n): # return factorial
    result = 1
    for i in range (1,n):
        result = result * i
    print "factorial is ",result
    return result

print Factorial(10)

Upvotes: 867

Zeeshan Javed
Zeeshan Javed

Reputation: 21

Another way of correcting the indentation error is to copy your code to PyCharm if you have configured that already and reformat the file it will automatically indent correctly.

Upvotes: 1

Super Kai - Kazuya Ito
Super Kai - Kazuya Ito

Reputation: 1

I got the similar error below:

IndentationError: expected an indented block

When I forgot to put pass to the class or function below, then other code was written after the class or function as shown below:

class Person:
    # pass

x = 10

def test():
    # pass

x = 10

And, when other code was not written after the class or function as shown below:

class Person:
    # pass

# x = 10

def test():
    # pass

# x = 10

I got the error below:

SyntaxError: unexpected EOF while parsing

Upvotes: 0

Gatica
Gatica

Reputation: 593

If you use Python's IDLE editor you can do as it suggests in one of similar error messages:

1) select all, e.g. Ctrl + A

2) Go to Format -> Untabify Region

3) Double check your indenting is still correct, save and rerun your program.

I'm using Python 2.5.4

Upvotes: 18

Faisal Ahmed Farooq
Faisal Ahmed Farooq

Reputation: 141

Firstly, just to remind you there is a logical error you better keep result=1 or else your output will be result=0 even after the loop runs.

Secondly you can write it like this:

import sys

def Factorial(n): # Return factorial
  result = 0
  for i in range (1,n):
     result = result * i

  print "factorial is ",result
  return result

Leaving a line will tell the python shell that the FOR statements have ended. If you have experience using the python shell then you can understand why we have to leave a line.

Upvotes: 1

user4398985
user4398985

Reputation:

Just a addition. I had a similar problem with the both indentations in Notepad++.

  1. Unexcepted indentation

  2. Outer Indentation Level

    Go to ----> Search tab ----> tap on replace ----> hit the radio button Extended below ---> Now replace \t with four spaces

    Go to ----> Search tab ----> tap on replace ----> hit the radio button Extended below ---> Now replace \n with nothing

Upvotes: 4

cbartondock
cbartondock

Reputation: 683

If you are using Vim, hit escape and then type

gg=G

This auto indents everything and will clear up any spaces you have thrown in.

Upvotes: 23

loretoparisi
loretoparisi

Reputation: 16271

On Atom

go to 

Packages > Whitespace > Convert Spaces to Tabs

Then check again your file indentation:

python -m tabnanny yourFile.py

or

>python
>>> help("yourFile.py")

Upvotes: 10

Ali
Ali

Reputation: 29

It could be because the function above it is not indented the same way. i.e.

class a:
    def blah:
      print("Hello world")
    def blah1:
      print("Hello world")

Upvotes: 2

Matt Kahl
Matt Kahl

Reputation: 823

Looks to be an indentation problem. You don't have to match curly brackets in Python but you do have to match indentation levels.

The best way to prevent space/tab problems is to display invisible characters within your text editor. This will give you a quick way to prevent and/or resolve indentation-related errors.

Also, injecting copy-pasted code is a common source for this type of problem.

Upvotes: 8

zdan
zdan

Reputation: 29450

Are you sure you are not mixing tabs and spaces in your indentation white space? (That will cause that error.)

Note, it is recommended that you don't use tabs in Python code. See the style guide. You should configure Notepad++ to insert spaces for tabs.

Upvotes: 51

Andr&#233;
Andr&#233;

Reputation: 13327

To easily check for problems with tabs/spaces you can actually do this:

python -m tabnanny yourfile.py

or you can just set up your editor correctly of course :-)

Upvotes: 156

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