Emacs: globally enable whitespace-mode

Question

I want globally enable whitespace-mode. I have tried this in my .emacs:

(require 'whitespace)
(setq-default whitespace-style '(face trailing lines empty indentation::space))
(setq-default whitespace-line-column 80)
(setq global-whitespace-mode 1)
(whitespace-mode 1)

but without success... I able to enable it via M+x whitespace-mode, but I want it to enable it globally... Any suggestions? I am using GNU Emacs 23.3.1 .

Note that `whitespace-mode` and `global-whitespace-mode` are different minor modes. The former is buffer-local, the latter is not. If the buffer-local mode is enabled for a given buffer, the global mode will not have any effect on that buffer. — phils, Jun 17 '11 at 08:16

score 26 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 16 '11 at 22:56

26

In general it's best to enable/disable modes by using the function call, not setting the variable (which is what you did for global-whitespace-mode).

Try:

(global-whitespace-mode 1)

answered Jun 16 '11 at 22:56

Trey Jackson

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It's both. See `C-h v global-whitespace-mode RET` and `C-h f global-whitespace-mode RET` – phils Jun 17 '11 at 08:09
phils, Thanks, quite surprising for me... I definitely have to learn some elisp to customize emacs :) – Vladimir Mihailenco Jun 17 '11 at 10:00
@phils - How do I get to the correct mode to type 'C-h v global-whitespace-mode RET'? I've spent 3 hours looking in documents, tutorials, and online. I just can't seem to figure it out. – Patricia Feb 24 '15 at 18:28
On a Mac, it's option M to get to Mark Set and then option M-x. :-) – Patricia Feb 24 '15 at 19:09
How would you disable it? With 0, -1 ? – Didier A. Mar 31 '18 at 04:44
@DidierA. You can disable it with a `-1` - which is mentioned in the documentation, which you can see with `C-h f global-whitespace-mode` – Trey Jackson Apr 27 '18 at 22:29

Emacs: globally enable whitespace-mode

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