diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/toggle_whitespace_action.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/toggle_whitespace_action.go
index 56eb023f3..746d18bdf 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers/toggle_whitespace_action.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/toggle_whitespace_action.go
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package controllers
 
 import (
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/context"
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/types"
+	"github.com/samber/lo"
 )
 
 type ToggleWhitespaceAction struct {
@@ -9,6 +11,18 @@ type ToggleWhitespaceAction struct {
 }
 
 func (self *ToggleWhitespaceAction) Call() error {
+	contextsThatDontSupportIgnoringWhitespace := []types.ContextKey{
+		context.STAGING_MAIN_CONTEXT_KEY,
+		context.STAGING_SECONDARY_CONTEXT_KEY,
+		context.PATCH_BUILDING_MAIN_CONTEXT_KEY,
+	}
+
+	if lo.Contains(contextsThatDontSupportIgnoringWhitespace, self.c.CurrentContext().GetKey()) {
+		// Ignoring whitespace is not supported in these views. Let the user
+		// know that it's not going to work in case they try to turn it on.
+		return self.c.ErrorMsg(self.c.Tr.IgnoreWhitespaceNotSupportedHere)
+	}
+
 	self.c.State().SetIgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView(!self.c.State().GetIgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView())
 
 	toastMessage := self.c.Tr.ShowingWhitespaceInDiffView
diff --git a/pkg/i18n/english.go b/pkg/i18n/english.go
index 5e34022d3..c1d0b6c0c 100644
--- a/pkg/i18n/english.go
+++ b/pkg/i18n/english.go
@@ -483,6 +483,7 @@ type TranslationSet struct {
 	ToggleWhitespaceInDiffView          string
 	IgnoringWhitespaceInDiffView        string
 	ShowingWhitespaceInDiffView         string
+	IgnoreWhitespaceNotSupportedHere    string
 	IncreaseContextInDiffView           string
 	DecreaseContextInDiffView           string
 	CreatePullRequestOptions            string
@@ -1154,6 +1155,7 @@ func EnglishTranslationSet() TranslationSet {
 		ToggleWhitespaceInDiffView:          "Toggle whether or not whitespace changes are shown in the diff view",
 		IgnoringWhitespaceInDiffView:        "Whitespace will be ignored in the diff view",
 		ShowingWhitespaceInDiffView:         "Whitespace will be shown in the diff view",
+		IgnoreWhitespaceNotSupportedHere:    "Ignoring whitespace is not supported in this view",
 		IncreaseContextInDiffView:           "Increase the size of the context shown around changes in the diff view",
 		DecreaseContextInDiffView:           "Decrease the size of the context shown around changes in the diff view",
 		CreatePullRequest:                   "Create pull request",