diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
index f641f4205..54b501a31 100644
--- a/.editorconfig
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ root = true
 [*]
 end_of_line = lf
 insert_final_newline = true
-
-[Makefile]
-indent_style = tab
+trim_trailing_whitespace = true
 
 [*.{html,js,json,md,sass,yaml}]
 indent_style = space
 indent_size = 2
+
+[Makefile]
+indent_style = tab
diff --git a/.markdownlint.json b/.markdownlint.json
index e4ae47bef..70cdccd65 100644
--- a/.markdownlint.json
+++ b/.markdownlint.json
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
   "no-hard-tabs": false,
   "no-inline-html": false,
   "no-trailing-punctuation": false,
-  "no-trailing-spaces": true,
+  "no-trailing-spaces": {
+    "br_spaces": 0,
+    "strict": true
+  },
   "custom-rules-below-this-point": false,
   "trim-code-block-and-unindent": true
 }
diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
index c20589189..7ced81168 100644
--- a/.prettierignore
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 !/layouts/shortcodes/es
 !/layouts/shortcodes/pt
 
+/content/en/blog/2019
+/content/en/blog/202[23]
+
 /content/ja
 /content/zh
 
diff --git a/content/en/blog/2024/otel-governance/index.md b/content/en/blog/2024/otel-governance/index.md
index b51db8dfc..27150d01b 100644
--- a/content/en/blog/2024/otel-governance/index.md
+++ b/content/en/blog/2024/otel-governance/index.md
@@ -109,11 +109,11 @@ act as a liaison between those SIGs and the GC. Once a month, I ask SIG
 maintainers from Collector, Operator, Security, and Go Autoinstrumentation
 questions, such as:
 
-1\. Do you have any specific issues within your SIG that would require GC
-intervention?  
-2\. Are you happy with the current balance of
-contributors/triagers/approvers/maintainers?  
-3\. What’s one thing the GC can help with to make your life easier?
+1. Do you have any specific issues within your SIG that would require GC
+   intervention?
+2. Are you happy with the current balance of
+   contributors/triagers/approvers/maintainers?
+3. What’s one thing the GC can help with to make your life easier?
 
 These responses are confidential, and maintainers know they can approach me with
 any problems, like when there’s a conflict between community members. While I
diff --git a/content/en/docs/contributing/style-guide.md b/content/en/docs/contributing/style-guide.md
index 69b559f0b..a49a3816c 100644
--- a/content/en/docs/contributing/style-guide.md
+++ b/content/en/docs/contributing/style-guide.md
@@ -60,15 +60,17 @@ properly.
 ## Markdown standards
 
 To enforce standards and consistency for Markdown files, all files should follow
-certain rules, enforced by
-[markdownlint](https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint). For a full list,
-check the
-[`.markdownlint.json`](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry.io/blob/main/.markdownlint.json)
-file.
+certain rules, enforced by [markdownlint]. For a full list, check the
+[.markdownlint.json] file.
 
-Run `npm run check:markdown` to verify that all files follow the standard.
+Run:
 
-Run `npm run fix:markdown` to fix Markdown related formatting issues.
+- `npm run check:markdown` to ensure that all files follow our standards
+- `npm run fix:markdown` to fix Markdown-related formatting issues
+
+We also enforce markdown [file format](#file-format) and strip files of trailing
+whitespace. This precludes the [line break syntax] of 2+ spaces; use `<br>`
+instead or reformat your text.
 
 ## Spell checking
 
@@ -107,12 +109,17 @@ run `npm run fix:dict`.
 
 ## File format
 
-To enforce a certain standard on how files are structured, all files should be
-formatted by [prettier](https://prettier.io). Run `npm run fix:format` before
-submitting a PR, or run it afterwards and push an additional commit.
+We enforce file formatting using [Prettier]. Invoke it using
+`npm run fix:format`.
 
 ## File names
 
 All file names should be in
 [kebab case](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_case#Kebab_case). Run
 `npm run fix:filenames` to automatically rename your files.
+
+[.markdownlint.json]:
+  https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry.io/blob/main/.markdownlint.json
+[line break syntax]: https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/#line-breaks
+[markdownlint]: https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint
+[Prettier]: https://prettier.io
diff --git a/content/en/docs/kubernetes/operator/target-allocator.md b/content/en/docs/kubernetes/operator/target-allocator.md
index dd40ab91c..0dcfb2040 100644
--- a/content/en/docs/kubernetes/operator/target-allocator.md
+++ b/content/en/docs/kubernetes/operator/target-allocator.md
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ spec:
               replacement: $$1
             - action: labelmap
               regex: label_(.+)
-              replacement: $$1 
+              replacement: $$1
 
     exporters:
       # NOTE: Prior to v0.86.0 use `logging` instead of `debug`.
diff --git a/content/es/docs/what-is-opentelemetry.md b/content/es/docs/what-is-opentelemetry.md
index d4b7bf6df..a5927d4e5 100644
--- a/content/es/docs/what-is-opentelemetry.md
+++ b/content/es/docs/what-is-opentelemetry.md
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ puede extender incluyen:
 - Cargar librerías de instrumentación personalizadas en un SDK.
 - Crear una [distribución](/docs/concepts/distributions/) de un SDK o Collector
   adaptada a un caso de uso específico.
-- Crear un nuevo exportador para un backend personalizado que aún no admite el  
+- Crear un nuevo exportador para un backend personalizado que aún no admite el
   protocolo OpenTelemetry (OTLP).
 - Crear un propagador personalizado para un formato de propagación de contexto
   que no es estándar.
diff --git a/content/pt/docs/languages/js/getting-started/browser.md b/content/pt/docs/languages/js/getting-started/browser.md
index 3594361ad..5b515e217 100644
--- a/content/pt/docs/languages/js/getting-started/browser.md
+++ b/content/pt/docs/languages/js/getting-started/browser.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Copie o conteúdo a seguir em um arquivo em um diretório vazio e salve-o como
     <base href="/" />
     <!--
       https://www.w3.org/TR/trace-context/
-      Defina o `traceparent` no código do template HTML do servidor. Ele 
+      Defina o `traceparent` no código do template HTML do servidor. Ele
       deve ser gerado dinamicamente pelo servidor para conter o ID do rastro
       da requisição do servidor, um ID de trecho pai que foi definido no trecho
       da requisição do servidor e as flags de rastro para indicar a decisão de
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6b9f2778b..5b7ec6914 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     "_diff:fail": "git diff --name-only --exit-code || exit 1",
     "_fail": "exit 1",
     "_filename-error": "echo 'ERROR: the following files violate naming conventions; fix using: `npm run fix:filenames`'; echo; npm run -s _ls-bad-filenames; exit 1",
+    "_fix:trailing-spaces": "find content -name '*.md' -exec perl -i -pe 's/[ \t]+$//g' {} +",
     "_get:no": "echo SKIPPING get operation",
     "_get:submodule": "set -x && git submodule update --init ${DEPTH:- --depth 999}",
     "_hugo": "hugo --cleanDestinationDir",
@@ -68,15 +69,15 @@
     "fix:dict": "find content layouts -name \"*.md\" -print0 | xargs -0 scripts/normalize-cspell-front-matter.pl",
     "fix:expired": "npm run -s check:expired -- -q | xargs -r -I {} sh -c 'echo \"Deleting expired file: {}\" && rm {}'",
     "fix:filenames": "npm run _rename-to-kebab-case",
-    "fix:format": "npm run format",
+    "fix:format": "npm run format; npm run _fix:trailing-spaces",
     "fix:htmltest-config": "scripts/htmltest-config.sh",
     "fix:i18n:all": "scripts/check-i18n.sh -a -c HEAD",
     "fix:i18n:drifted": "scripts/check-i18n.sh -c HEAD",
     "fix:i18n:new": "scripts/check-i18n.sh -n -c HEAD",
     "fix:i18n": "npm run fix:i18n:new",
-    "fix:markdown": "npm run check:markdown -- --fix",
-    "fix:refcache": "npm run check:links",
+    "fix:markdown": "npm run check:markdown -- --fix; echo '\nTrimming trailing whitespace'; npm run _fix:trailing-spaces",
     "fix:refcache:refresh": "npm run _refcache:prune -- -n ${PRUNE_N:-128}",
+    "fix:refcache": "npm run check:links",
     "fix:submodule": "npm run pin:submodule",
     "fix:text": "npm run check:text -- --fix",
     "fix": "npm run fix:all",
diff --git a/scripts/check-markdown-wrapper.sh b/scripts/check-markdown-wrapper.sh
index bfd1472d0..9f6a013a2 100755
--- a/scripts/check-markdown-wrapper.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-markdown-wrapper.sh
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ for symlink_target in $symlink_targets; do
 done
 
 set -x
-exec npm run _check:markdown "$@"
+exec npm run _check:markdown -- "$@"
diff --git a/static/refcache.json b/static/refcache.json
index d7bd8655d..fa09d1765 100644
--- a/static/refcache.json
+++ b/static/refcache.json
@@ -18907,6 +18907,10 @@
     "StatusCode": 206,
     "LastSeen": "2025-01-06T11:32:39.303245-05:00"
   },
+  "https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/#line-breaks": {
+    "StatusCode": 206,
+    "LastSeen": "2025-01-31T10:25:48.883033-05:00"
+  },
   "https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/130979-opentelemetry-matlab": {
     "StatusCode": 200,
     "LastSeen": "2025-01-30T21:55:43.614Z"