JSON Formatter

JSON formatting is one of the most common online tasks for front-end and back-end developers. The tool covers the essentials:

• Format: turn minified or messy JSON into readable, indented output with 2 or 4 spaces or a tab
• Minify: strip all whitespace and newlines into a single line to cut payload size for transport
• Validate: detect syntax errors such as missing quotes or commas and mismatched brackets, with the exact line and column
• Escape and unescape: handle special characters in JSON strings so they can be embedded in code
• Tree view: explore the hierarchy and expand or collapse nodes

When to use it

• Debug JSON returned by an API
• Read and inspect large configuration files
• Minify JSON to reduce transfer size
• Check that hand-written JSON is valid

Any size of JSON is supported and all parsing runs locally in the browser; nothing is uploaded.

JSON quick reference

• Types: string in double quotes, number, boolean, null, array and object
• Keys: always double quoted, for example "name": "Ada"
• Common mistakes: trailing commas, single quotes and comments, which JSON does not allow
• Content-Type: application/json, the standard for APIs