diff --git a/.clang-format b/.clang-format
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..861623723f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.clang-format
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+AlwaysBreakAfterReturnType: All
+AlwaysBreakTemplateDeclarations: true
+BinPackArguments: false
+BinPackParameters: false
+BraceWrapping:
+  AfterFunction: true
+  AfterClass: false
+  AfterStruct: false
+  BeforeElse: true
+  SplitEmptyFunction: false
+  SplitEmptyRecord: false
+  SplitEmptyNamespace: false
+BreakBeforeBraces: Custom
+BreakConstructorInitializers: BeforeComma
+ColumnLimit: 88
+ConstructorInitializerAllOnOneLineOrOnePerLine: true
+ConstructorInitializerIndentWidth: 0
+Language: Cpp
+PointerAlignment: Left
+Standard: Cpp11
+TabWidth: 2
+UseTab: Never
diff --git a/.dev/format.sh b/.dev/format.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..d13db025159
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dev/format.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env sh
+
+# sample command line usage: $0 clang-format(version >= 6.0) $PCL_SOURCE_DIR
+# $ sh ./.dev/format.sh `which clang-format` ./
+# $ sh format.sh `which clang-format` ../
+# $ sh ~/pcl/format.sh `which clang-format` ~/pcl
+# $ sh /pcl/format.sh `which clang-format` /pcl
+
+format() {
+    # don't use a directory with whitespace
+    local whitelist="2d cuda gpu ml simulation stereo tracking"
+
+    local PCL_DIR="${2}"
+    local formatter="${1}"
+
+    if [ ! -f "${formatter}" ]; then
+        echo "Could not find a clang-format. Please specify one as the first argument"
+        exit 166
+    fi
+
+    # check for self
+    if [ ! -f "${PCL_DIR}/.dev/format.sh" ]; then
+        echo "Please ensure that PCL_SOURCE_DIR is passed as the second argument"
+        exit 166
+    fi
+
+    for dir in ${whitelist}; do
+        path=${PCL_DIR}/${dir}
+        find ${path} -type f -iname *.[ch] -o -iname *.[ch]pp -o -iname *.[ch]xx \
+            -iname *.cu | xargs -n1 ${formatter} -i -style=file
+    done
+}
+
+format $@
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 480deecceb2..8e8ea146e64 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ endif()
 include("${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/pcl_verbosity.cmake")
 include("${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/pcl_targets.cmake")
 include("${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/pcl_options.cmake")
+include("${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/clang-format.cmake")
 
 # Enable verbose timing display?
 if(CMAKE_TIMING_VERBOSE AND UNIX)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/FindClangFormat.cmake b/cmake/Modules/FindClangFormat.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0773e99cb26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/Modules/FindClangFormat.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#
+# .rst: FindClangFormat
+# ---------------
+#
+# The module defines the following variables
+#
+# ``ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE`` Path to clang-format executable
+# ``ClangFormat_FOUND`` True if the clang-format executable was found.
+# ``ClangFormat_VERSION`` The version of clang-format found
+#
+# Example usage:
+#
+# .. code-block:: cmake
+#
+# find_package(ClangFormat) 
+# if(ClangFormat_FOUND)
+# message("clang-format executable found: ${ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE}\n"
+#         "version: ${ClangFormat_VERSION}") 
+# endif()
+
+find_program(ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE
+             NAMES
+                   clang-format-9
+                   clang-format-9.0
+                   clang-format-8
+                   clang-format-8.0
+                   clang-format-7
+                   clang-format-7.0
+                   clang-format-6.0
+                   clang-format-5.0
+                   clang-format-4.0
+                   clang-format-3.9
+                   clang-format-3.8
+                   clang-format-3.7
+                   clang-format-3.6
+                   clang-format-3.5
+                   clang-format-3.4
+                   clang-format-3.3
+                   clang-format  # least priority
+             DOC "clang-format executable")
+mark_as_advanced(ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE)
+
+# Extract version from command "clang-format -version"
+if(ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE)
+  execute_process(COMMAND ${ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE} -version
+                  OUTPUT_VARIABLE clang_format_version
+                  ERROR_QUIET OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+endif()
+set(version_regex "^.*clang-format version ([.0-9]+).*")
+if(clang_format_version MATCHES ${version_regex})
+  # clang_format_version samples:
+  # * clang-format version 3.9.1-4ubuntu3~16.04.1 (tags/RELEASE_391/rc2)
+  # * Alpine clang-format version 8.0.0 (tags/RELEASE_800/final) (based on LLVM 8.0.0)
+  string(REGEX
+          REPLACE ${version_regex}
+                  "\\1"
+                  ClangFormat_VERSION
+                  "${clang_format_version}")
+  # ClangFormat_VERSION sample: "3.9.1", "8.0.0"
+endif()
+unset(clang_format_version)
+unset(version_regex)
+
+include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
+find_package_handle_standard_args(
+  ClangFormat
+  REQUIRED_VARS
+    ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE
+    ClangFormat_VERSION
+  VERSION_VAR
+    ClangFormat_VERSION
+)
diff --git a/cmake/clang-format.cmake b/cmake/clang-format.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..178d03b2bbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/clang-format.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+find_package(ClangFormat 6)
+# search for version number in clang-format without version number
+if(ClangFormat_FOUND)
+  message(STATUS "Adding target 'format'")
+  add_custom_target(
+  format
+  COMMAND sh 
+    ${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}/.dev/format.sh
+    ${ClangFormat_EXECUTABLE}
+    ${PCL_SOURCE_DIR}
+  )
+endif()