diff --git a/demos/src/Commands/InsertContent/React/index.spec.js b/demos/src/Commands/InsertContent/React/index.spec.js
index 153d205761..9bfe708377 100644
--- a/demos/src/Commands/InsertContent/React/index.spec.js
+++ b/demos/src/Commands/InsertContent/React/index.spec.js
@@ -41,4 +41,54 @@ context('/src/Commands/InsertContent/React/', () => {
       cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<pre><code>foo\nbar</code></pre>')
     })
   })
+
+  it('should keep newlines and tabs', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('<p>Hello\n\tworld\n\t\thow\n\t\t\tnice.\ntest\tOK</p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Hello\n\tworld\n\t\thow\n\t\t\tnice.\ntest\tOK</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should keep newlines and tabs', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('<h1>Tiptap</h1>\n<p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting nothing', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a partial HTML tag', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('<p>foo')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting an incomplete HTML tag', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('foo<p')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo&lt;p</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a list', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('<ul><li>ABC</li><li>123</li></ul>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<ul><li><p>ABC</p></li><li><p>123</p></li></ul>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should remove newlines and tabs when parseOptions.preserveWhitespace=false', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.insertContent('\n<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello\n World</strong>\n</p>\n', { parseOptions: { preserveWhitespace: false } })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+    })
+  })
+
 })
diff --git a/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.html b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.jsx b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.jsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b8810baebd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.jsx
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import './styles.scss'
+
+import { Color } from '@tiptap/extension-color'
+import ListItem from '@tiptap/extension-list-item'
+import Mentions from '@tiptap/extension-mention'
+import TextStyle from '@tiptap/extension-text-style'
+import { EditorProvider } from '@tiptap/react'
+import StarterKit from '@tiptap/starter-kit'
+import React from 'react'
+
+const extensions = [
+  Color.configure({ types: [TextStyle.name, ListItem.name] }),
+  TextStyle.configure({ types: [ListItem.name] }),
+  StarterKit.configure({
+    bulletList: {
+      keepMarks: true,
+    },
+    orderedList: {
+      keepMarks: true,
+    },
+  }),
+  Mentions,
+]
+
+const content = ''
+
+export default () => {
+  return (
+    <EditorProvider extensions={extensions} content={content}></EditorProvider>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.spec.js b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6fbdf20ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/index.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+context('/src/Commands/SetContent/React/', () => {
+  before(() => {
+    cy.visit('/src/Commands/SetContent/React/')
+  })
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').type('{selectall}{backspace}')
+  })
+
+  it('should insert raw text content', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('Hello World.')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Hello World.</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should emit updates', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      let updateCount = 0
+      const callback = () => {
+        updateCount += 1
+      }
+
+      editor.on('update', callback)
+      // emit an update
+      editor.commands.setContent('Hello World.', true)
+      expect(updateCount).to.equal(1)
+
+      updateCount = 0
+      // do not emit an update
+      editor.commands.setContent('Hello World again.', false)
+      expect(updateCount).to.equal(0)
+      editor.off('update', callback)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should insert more complex html content', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<h1>Welcome to Tiptap</h1><p>This is a paragraph.</p><ul><li><p>List Item A</p></li><li><p>List Item B</p><ul><li><p>Subchild</p></li></ul></li></ul>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Welcome to Tiptap</h1><p>This is a paragraph.</p><ul><li><p>List Item A</p></li><li><p>List Item B</p><ul><li><p>Subchild</p></li></ul></li></ul>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should remove newlines and tabs', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>Hello\n\tworld\n\t\thow\n\t\t\tnice.</p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Hello world how nice.</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should keep newlines and tabs when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>Hello\n\tworld\n\t\thow\n\t\t\tnice.</p>', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Hello\n\tworld\n\t\thow\n\t\t\tnice.</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should overwrite existing content', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>Initial Content</p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Initial Content</p>')
+    })
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>Overwritten Content</p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Overwritten Content</p>')
+    })
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('Content without tags')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>Content without tags</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should insert mentions', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p><span data-type="mention" data-id="1" data-label="John Doe">@John Doe</span></p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<span data-type="mention" data-id="1" data-label="John Doe" contenteditable="false">@John Doe</span>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should remove newlines and tabs between html fragments', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<h1>Tiptap</h1>\n\t<p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  // TODO I'm not certain about this behavior and what it should do...
+  // This exists in insertContentAt as well
+  it('should keep newlines and tabs between html fragments when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<h1>Tiptap</h1>\n\t<p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Tiptap</h1><p>\n\t</p><p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting nothing', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting nothing when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a partial HTML tag', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>foo')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a partial HTML tag when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<p>foo', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('will remove an incomplete HTML tag', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('foo<p')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  // TODO I'm not certain about this behavior and what it should do...
+  // This exists in insertContentAt as well
+  it('should allow inserting an incomplete HTML tag when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('foo<p', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<p>foo&lt;p</p>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a list', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<ul><li>ABC</li><li>123</li></ul>')
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<ul><li><p>ABC</p></li><li><p>123</p></li></ul>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should allow inserting a list when preserveWhitespace = full', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('<ul><li>ABC</li><li>123</li></ul>', false, { preserveWhitespace: 'full' })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<ul><li><p>ABC</p></li><li><p>123</p></li></ul>')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should remove newlines and tabs when parseOptions.preserveWhitespace=false', () => {
+    cy.get('.tiptap').then(([{ editor }]) => {
+      editor.commands.setContent('\n<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello\n World</strong>\n</p>\n', false, { preserveWhitespace: false })
+      cy.get('.tiptap').should('contain.html', '<h1>Tiptap</h1><p><strong>Hello World</strong></p>')
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/styles.scss b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/styles.scss
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d2b2c81ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/demos/src/Commands/SetContent/React/styles.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/* Basic editor styles */
+.tiptap {
+  > * + * {
+    margin-top: 0.75em;
+  }
+
+  ul,
+  ol {
+    padding: 0 1rem;
+  }
+
+  h1,
+  h2,
+  h3,
+  h4,
+  h5,
+  h6 {
+    line-height: 1.1;
+  }
+
+  code {
+    background-color: rgba(#616161, 0.1);
+    color: #616161;
+  }
+
+  pre {
+    background: #0D0D0D;
+    color: #FFF;
+    font-family: 'JetBrainsMono', monospace;
+    padding: 0.75rem 1rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem;
+
+    code {
+      color: inherit;
+      padding: 0;
+      background: none;
+      font-size: 0.8rem;
+    }
+  }
+
+  img {
+    max-width: 100%;
+    height: auto;
+  }
+
+  blockquote {
+    padding-left: 1rem;
+    border-left: 2px solid rgba(#0D0D0D, 0.1);
+  }
+
+  hr {
+    border: none;
+    border-top: 2px solid rgba(#0D0D0D, 0.1);
+    margin: 2rem 0;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/commands/insertContentAt.ts b/packages/core/src/commands/insertContentAt.ts
index f1159c6f10..996cd511fd 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/commands/insertContentAt.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/commands/insertContentAt.ts
@@ -84,11 +84,6 @@ export const insertContentAt: RawCommands['insertContentAt'] = (position, value,
       return false
     }
 
-    // don’t dispatch an empty fragment because this can lead to strange errors
-    if (content.toString() === '<>') {
-      return true
-    }
-
     let { from, to } = typeof position === 'number' ? { from: position, to: position } : { from: position.from, to: position.to }
 
     let isOnlyTextContent = true
diff --git a/packages/core/src/commands/setContent.ts b/packages/core/src/commands/setContent.ts
index cd26fa6f8e..0819c3cd05 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/commands/setContent.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/commands/setContent.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Fragment, Node as ProseMirrorNode, ParseOptions } from '@tiptap/pm/model'
+import { ParseOptions } from '@tiptap/pm/model'
 
 import { createDocument } from '../helpers/createDocument.js'
 import { Content, RawCommands } from '../types.js'
@@ -44,22 +44,34 @@ declare module '@tiptap/core' {
   }
 }
 
-export const setContent: RawCommands['setContent'] = (content, emitUpdate = false, parseOptions = {}, options = {}) => ({ tr, editor, dispatch }) => {
+export const setContent: RawCommands['setContent'] = (content, emitUpdate = false, parseOptions = {}, options = {}) => ({
+  editor, tr, dispatch, commands,
+}) => {
   const { doc } = tr
 
-  let document: Fragment | ProseMirrorNode
-
-  try {
-    document = createDocument(content, editor.schema, parseOptions, {
+  // This is to keep backward compatibility with the previous behavior
+  // TODO remove this in the next major version
+  if (parseOptions.preserveWhitespace !== 'full') {
+    const document = createDocument(content, editor.schema, parseOptions, {
       errorOnInvalidContent: options.errorOnInvalidContent ?? editor.options.enableContentCheck,
     })
-  } catch (e) {
-    return false
+
+    if (dispatch) {
+      tr.replaceWith(0, doc.content.size, document).setMeta('preventUpdate', !emitUpdate)
+    }
+    return true
   }
 
   if (dispatch) {
-    tr.replaceWith(0, doc.content.size, document).setMeta('preventUpdate', !emitUpdate)
+    tr.setMeta('preventUpdate', !emitUpdate)
   }
 
-  return true
+  return commands.insertContentAt(
+    { from: 0, to: doc.content.size },
+    content,
+    {
+      parseOptions,
+      errorOnInvalidContent: options.errorOnInvalidContent ?? editor.options.enableContentCheck,
+    },
+  )
 }