By default, the IDE converts all tabs that you type into the Source Editor into spaces. Any tab characters (\t) that already exist in a file remain unless you use the Reformat Code command on the file.
You can customize the IDE in the following ways:
Three settings determine how tabs are handled by the Source Editor:
This property appears for the individual editor types within the Editor Settings category of the Options window's Advanced Options view.
To modify the tab settings for Java files:
To modify the tab settings for non-Java files:
See Options Window: Indentation Engines for a complete description of these settings.
By default, the Source Editor converts tabs to spaces as you are typing code. If you have code that you created outside of the IDE and that code has tab characters in it, you can convert those tab characters to spaces by using the IDE's Reformat Code command.
To convert existing tab characters to spaces:
If you only want to reformat selected lines, select those lines before choosing the Reformat Code command.