import re with open('_get_instance_details.php', 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f: content = f.read() pattern = r'\s*\s*' replacement = r''' ''' new_content, count = re.subn(pattern, replacement, content, flags=re.DOTALL) with open('_get_instance_details.php', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f: f.write(new_content) print(f"Replaced {count} instances.")