Ready to format
Paste JSON and click Format — or press Ctrl+Enter// format & validate JSON instantly
Format, validate and beautify JSON instantly in your browser. Syntax highlighting, error detection, minify support — free, no sign-up required.
Ready to format
Paste JSON and click Format — or press Ctrl+EnterDrop raw, minified, or malformed JSON into the input box on the left.
Format adds indentation and line breaks. Minify strips all whitespace to one compact line.
Use Copy All to grab the result or Download to save as a .json file.
JSON Formatter is a free browser-based tool that instantly formats, validates, and minifies JSON data. It detects syntax errors with precise line hints, applies syntax highlighting by value type, and lets you adjust indentation before copying or downloading the result.
A JSON Formatter takes raw or minified JSON text and reorganizes it with proper indentation and line breaks, making it easy to read. It also validates the JSON and reports any syntax errors.
Formatting and validation happen entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your data never leaves your device, so it is safe to use with sensitive or private JSON payloads.
Minify removes all unnecessary whitespace, newlines, and indentation from your JSON, producing a single compact line. This is useful when embedding JSON in source code or reducing payload size for network requests.
Common causes include trailing commas, single quotes instead of double quotes, unquoted keys, comments inside JSON, or missing closing brackets. The error message will indicate where the problem occurs.
Yes. Use the Indent selector in the toolbar to choose 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or a tab character before clicking Format. The output will reflect your selection.
Press Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac) to format instantly. Press Ctrl+Shift+M to minify. These shortcuts work while focus is in the input textarea.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the universal format for exchanging data between web services, APIs, configuration files, and mobile applications. While JSON is lightweight and human-readable in theory, minified or deeply nested JSON can quickly become impossible to scan by eye. That is where a JSON formatter becomes essential.
Paste any JSON string — minified, partially formatted, or even extracted from a network log — and click Format. The tool rewrites the output with consistent indentation, correct line breaks, and proper structure. Choose between 2-space indentation (the most common convention), 4-space indentation (favored in some languages), or hard tab characters to match your project style guide.
Every formatting attempt also validates the JSON. If the input contains a syntax error — a trailing comma, an unquoted key, single-quoted strings, embedded comments, or a mismatched bracket — the tool surfaces a clear error message pointing to the problem. This saves time compared to hunting for typos in raw text or relying on a browser console.
When you need to embed JSON in source code, send it over the wire, or reduce the size of a configuration file, the Minify button removes all unnecessary whitespace and compresses the output to a single line. The resulting JSON is functionally identical to the formatted version but takes up as little space as possible.
The formatted output applies color coding to different JSON value types: strings appear in one color, numbers in another, booleans and null values are highlighted distinctly, and keys are styled separately from values. This makes it easy to spot misclassified values, unexpected nulls, or numeric strings at a glance.
'value' with "value".// or /* */ comments. Remove them before parsing.{ must have a closing } and every [ must have a closing ].Frontend developers use it to inspect API responses. Backend developers use it to debug payloads before they reach the client. DevOps engineers use it to review config files for Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and other tools. QA testers use it to validate that endpoints return well-formed data. Even non-developers working with data exports in JSON format benefit from a quick visual check before importing into another system.