Use '-' flag to left-justify the result.
You must use width when you specify the '-' flag
public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.printf("'%S', '%-5S', '%.3S'%n", "Java", "Javascript", "Json"); System.out.printf("%s %n", 2028); System.out.printf("%s %n", true); System.out.printf("%s %n", new Object()); }//from ww w . jav a 2s . c o m }