JSON Formatter
Format and beautify JSON with configurable indentation, or minify it in one click.
Runs in your browser — your data never leaves your deviceFree, no sign-up
Formatted output
The result will appear here.
How it works
Paste JSON into the editor and press Format to pretty-print it, or Minify to strip all whitespace. The tool parses your document with the browser’s native JSON engine and re-serializes it with your chosen indentation — so the output is guaranteed to be valid JSON.
If the input is not valid, you get the exact line and column of the first problem instead of a cryptic engine message.
Features
- 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation
- One-click minification with size savings shown
- Validation with precise line/column error reporting
- Optional alphabetical key sorting
- Copy, download, upload and clear actions
- 100% client-side — nothing leaves your browser
How to use
- Paste your JSON, or upload a .json file.
- Choose an indentation (and optionally sort keys).
- Press Format or Minify.
- Copy the result or download it as a file.
Example
{"name":"DevCodivo","version":"1.0.0","features":["format","minify","validate"]}Frequently asked questions
- Is my JSON sent to a server?
- No. Formatting, minifying, validating and sorting all happen locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your JSON is never transmitted anywhere — you can confirm this in your browser's network inspector.
- What is the difference between formatting and minifying?
- Formatting (beautifying/pretty-printing) adds indentation and line breaks so JSON is easy to read and edit. Minifying removes all unnecessary whitespace to produce the smallest possible valid document, which is what you want for production delivery or storage.
- Which indentation should I use?
- Two spaces is the most common convention in modern projects. Four spaces and tabs are both fully valid — pick whichever your team's style guide requires. All three produce semantically identical JSON.
- Why does my JSON fail to format?
- The most common causes are trailing commas, single quotes instead of double quotes, unescaped newlines inside strings, comments (JSON does not support comments), and missing closing brackets. The error message shows the exact line and column to check.
- Does formatting change my data?
- No. Formatting only changes whitespace. Key order and values are preserved exactly, unless you enable the optional 'Sort keys alphabetically' option.
- Can I format large JSON files?
- Yes, up to roughly 10 MB. Processing happens in your browser, so performance depends on your device. Very large inputs are rejected with a clear message rather than freezing the page.
Related tools
- JSON ValidatorCheck whether JSON is valid and get precise error locations with line and column numbers.
- JSON MinifierCompress JSON by removing whitespace and see exactly how many bytes you saved.
- JSON DiffCompare two JSON documents and highlight additions, removals and changed values with paths.
- JSON to CSVConvert JSON arrays of objects to CSV with automatic column detection and proper escaping.