diff --git a/.emacs.d/init.el b/.emacs.d/init.el
index fa077e6..b55d47e 100644
--- a/.emacs.d/init.el
+++ b/.emacs.d/init.el
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@
 ;; resize cursor to character
 (setq x-stretch-cursor t)
 
+;; set tab width to 4 whitespaces
+(setq tab-width 4)
+(defvaralias 'c-basic-offset 'tab-width)
+(defvaralias 'cperl-indent-level 'tab-width)
+
 ;; delete trailing whitespaces before saving
 (add-hook 'before-save-hook 'delete-trailing-whitespace)