JSON Formatter

What is a JSON formatter?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the standard format for API responses, configuration files and data exchange. To save bandwidth, servers usually send it minified — everything on a single line with no whitespace. That is efficient for machines but almost impossible for people to read.

A JSON formatter (or beautifier) parses the data and prints it again with consistent indentation and line breaks, so nested objects and arrays are easy to scan. Because the text has to be parsed first, formatting also validates it: if the JSON is malformed, you get an error with the line and column where parsing failed.

This formatter runs in your browser. The JSON you paste is never uploaded, which makes it safe to use with API responses that contain tokens or customer data.

How to use the JSON Formatter

1. Paste your JSON into the input box, or click Sample to try it with example data.
2. Choose the indentation: 2 spaces, 4 spaces or tabs. Your choice is remembered for next time.
3. Optionally tick Sort keys A–Z to order object keys alphabetically — useful when comparing two payloads.
4. Copy the formatted result or download it as a .json file. If the input is invalid, fix the error shown and the output updates instantly.

Example

Minified input such as {"id":7,"tags":["css","wp"],"meta":{"draft":false}} becomes:

{
  "id": 7,
  "tags": [
    "css",
    "wp"
  ],
  "meta": {
    "draft": false
  }
}

Common JSON errors

• Trailing commas after the last item in an object or array, such as [1, 2, 3,].
• Single quotes around strings or keys. JSON requires double quotes: "name", not 'name'.
• Unquoted keys like {name: "value"}, which are valid JavaScript but not valid JSON.
• Comments (// or /* */). Standard JSON does not allow them.
• Special values such as undefined, NaN or Infinity, which have no JSON representation.