Text Repeater: How to Repeat Text N Times

Repeating a string is one of the most common text-manipulation tasks — from generating test data and dummy content to creating separators, padding, and stress-testing inputs. This guide explains how to repeat text online (no code needed) and how to do it programmatically in JavaScript, Python, Go, and PHP.

Why Repeat Text?

Repeat Text Online (No Code)

The fastest way is to use a free online text repeater:

1. Paste or type your text into the input field.
2. Set the number of repetitions (1–10,000).
3. Choose a separator: new line, space, comma, or a custom string.
4. Copy the output.

Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded and there are no sign-ups or limits.

Choosing a Separator

The separator appears between each copy of your text. Common options:

Tip: if you want hello hello hello, choose the space separator. If you need one hello per line for a bulk import, choose new line.

How to Repeat a String in Code

JavaScript

JavaScript has a built-in String.prototype.repeat() method, available in all modern browsers and Node.js:

// Basic repeat
"ha".repeat(3);        // "hahaha"
"hello".repeat(5);     // "hellohellohellohellohello"

// Repeat with separator — join an array
Array(5).fill("hello").join("\n");
// hello
// hello
// hello
// hello
// hello

// Repeat with comma separator
Array(4).fill("item").join(", ");
// "item, item, item, item"

// Utility function
function repeatText(text, times, separator = "") {
  if (times < 0) throw new RangeError("times must be >= 0");
  return Array(times).fill(text).join(separator);
}

repeatText("abc", 3, "-");   // "abc-abc-abc"
repeatText("*", 10);         // "**********"

Edge cases:

• "x".repeat(0) returns "" (empty string) — not an error.
• "x".repeat(-1) throws RangeError: Invalid count value.
• "x".repeat(Infinity) also throws RangeError.

Python

Python overloads the * operator for string repetition:

# Basic repeat
"ha" * 3           # 'hahaha'
"hello" * 5        # 'hellohellohellohellohello'

# Repeat with separator
"\n".join(["hello"] * 5)
# hello
# hello
# hello
# hello
# hello

", ".join(["item"] * 4)
# 'item, item, item, item'

# Utility function
def repeat_text(text: str, times: int, separator: str = "") -> str:
    if times < 0:
        raise ValueError("times must be >= 0")
    return separator.join([text] * times)

repeat_text("abc", 3, "-")   # 'abc-abc-abc'
repeat_text("*", 10)          # '**********'

Python also supports:

# Padding with ljust/rjust/center (uses repeat internally)
"7".rjust(5, "0")    # '00007'
"hi".center(10, "-") # '----hi----'

Go

Go uses strings.Repeat() from the standard library:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "strings"
)

func main() {
    // Basic repeat
    fmt.Println(strings.Repeat("ha", 3))    // hahaha
    fmt.Println(strings.Repeat("hello", 5)) // hellohellohellohellohello

    // Repeat with separator
    copies := make([]string, 5)
    for i := range copies {
        copies[i] = "hello"
    }
    fmt.Println(strings.Join(copies, "\n"))
    // hello
    // hello
    // hello
    // hello
    // hello

    // Repeat with comma
    fmt.Println(strings.Join(copies[:4], ", "))
    // hello, hello, hello, hello
}

// Utility function
func repeatText(text string, times int, separator string) string {
    if times <= 0 {
        return ""
    }
    copies := make([]string, times)
    for i := range copies {
        copies[i] = text
    }
    return strings.Join(copies, separator)
}

Note: strings.Repeat(s, 0) returns "". Negative counts panic with strings: negative Repeat count.

PHP

PHP provides str_repeat():

<?php

// Basic repeat
echo str_repeat("ha", 3);    // hahaha
echo str_repeat("hello", 5); // hellohellohellohellohello

// Repeat with separator
echo implode("\n", array_fill(0, 5, "hello"));
// hello
// hello
// hello
// hello
// hello

echo implode(", ", array_fill(0, 4, "item"));
// item, item, item, item

// Utility function
function repeatText(string $text, int $times, string $separator = ""): string {
    if ($times < 0) {
        throw new \InvalidArgumentException("times must be >= 0");
    }
    if ($times === 0) return "";
    return implode($separator, array_fill(0, $times, $text));
}

echo repeatText("abc", 3, "-");  // abc-abc-abc
echo repeatText("*", 10);        // **********

Language Quick-Reference Table

Practical Examples

Generate a horizontal rule

// 80-character separator line
"=".repeat(80);
// ================================================================================

Indent code

indent_level = 3
indent = "    " * indent_level   # 12 spaces
print(f"{indent}return x")
# "            return x"

Build a test CSV

header := "id,name,value\n"
row := "1,test,100\n"
csv := header + strings.Repeat(row, 1000)
// 1001-line CSV for load testing

Left-pad a number

$padded = str_repeat("0", 5 - strlen("42")) . "42";  // "00042"
// Or use str_pad:
$padded = str_pad("42", 5, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT);        // "00042"

Generate a password pattern placeholder

"*".repeat(password.length);  // hide length-aware placeholders

Performance Considerations

For most use cases (< 100,000 characters), any approach is fast enough. For very large repetitions:

Avoid this pattern in performance-sensitive code:

// BAD — O(n²) in JavaScript
let result = "";
for (let i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
  result += "hello";  // creates a new string each iteration
}

Prefer:

// GOOD — single allocation
const result = "hello".repeat(10000);

Common Mistakes

FAQ

Can I repeat multiple lines?
Yes. Your "text" can contain newlines — paste an entire paragraph and repeat the whole block. The separator is added between each copy.

Is there a limit on how many times I can repeat?
In code, the limit is your available memory. A string of 1 MB repeated 1,000 times produces ~1 GB — make sure you have headroom. Online tools typically cap at 10,000 repetitions to keep the browser responsive.

How do I repeat a character without a separator?
Use an empty string as the separator, or use the built-in method directly: "*".repeat(20) → "********************".

What's the difference between str_repeat and str_pad in PHP?
str_repeat repeats the string an exact number of times. str_pad pads a string to a target length, padding with a fill character. Use str_pad for fixed-width output and str_repeat when you need an exact count.

How do I repeat text and then remove the last separator?
With join-based approaches, the separator only appears between copies, never at the end. With the concatenation approach, strip the last separator character: result.slice(0, -separator.length).

Can I repeat Unicode, emoji, or multi-byte characters?
Yes. Modern built-ins (str.repeat, "x" * n, strings.Repeat) operate on code points, not bytes, so "😀".repeat(3) → "😀😀😀" is safe.