JSON

JSON Formatter and Beautifier

Turns minified or inconsistently indented JSON into readable, consistently indented text.

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Processing happens locally in your browser. What you paste or load is processed by this page and is not uploaded to a server. Nothing is stored unless you use a control that says it stores something, and you can clear anything this site has kept from the privacy page.

How to use this tool

  1. Paste your JSON into the input box, or load a .json file from your machine.
  2. Choose two spaces, four spaces or a tab, and decide whether to sort keys.
  3. Select Format. If the document will not parse, the error names the line and column.
  4. Copy the result, or download it as a file.

What json formatter does

A JSON formatter re-prints a document with consistent indentation and line breaks so you can read its structure. It does not change the data: the same keys, values, types and order come out the other side, only the whitespace between them differs. That matters because whitespace is insignificant in JSON, so reformatting is always safe.

Formatting is also the fastest way to find a structural problem. A response that looks like a single dense line becomes a tree the moment it is indented, and a key nested three levels deeper than you expected is obvious at a glance. If the document will not format at all, it is not valid JSON, and the error message points at the character where parsing stopped.

Frequently asked questions

No. Only whitespace changes. The same keys, values and types come out, and unless you ask for keys to be sorted, in the same order. Whitespace between tokens is not significant in JSON, so the formatted document parses to exactly the same value.

No. The formatting runs in your browser using its built-in JSON parser. Nothing you paste or load leaves your machine, and there is no request to a server carrying your document.

Because it is not valid JSON. The most common causes are a trailing comma before a closing bracket, single quotes instead of double quotes, unquoted keys, or a comment. The error message names the line and column where parsing stopped.