$re = '/(\n|\\\\n)(?!$)/';
$str = 'sdgfsdjkhfsdjif
sdklfjsdklfjsdkl
sdkljhsdklfjsdklsdfj
lsjdfllfksdfsdf\\nsjdfklsdfjksdhfsdk
sdjkfsdjkfhsdlfs
dfsdjfjsdf
sdfidklgjsd
sdfkjfsd
fdsjfkjsd\\nsdfhjsdhfsdj\\nsdjhfsdklhfksd\\nnsdkfhsdkljfsdkl\\\\njsdfljsdklfjsdlkfjsdlkjfsdkljflksdkjfskl';
$subst = "<br />";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php