Free Online JSON Formatter & Beautifier

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.

How to format JSON online

  1. 1

    Paste your JSON

    Drop raw or minified JSON into the left-hand box — API responses, config files, or log data all work.

  2. 2

    Click "Format & Validate"

    The tool pretty-prints the JSON with consistent indentation, or shows exactly what's wrong if it's invalid.

  3. 3

    Or click "Minify"

    Strip all whitespace to produce the smallest valid JSON, useful for shrinking payloads before sending them.

  4. 4

    Copy the result

    Select the output box and copy the formatted or minified JSON back into your code, request, or file.

Example use cases

1

Debugging API responses

Paste a minified API response to instantly see its structure and spot a missing or misnamed field.

2

Cleaning up config files

Reformat a hand-edited or auto-generated config.json so it's readable and consistently indented.

3

Reducing payload size

Minify JSON before sending it over the wire to shave unnecessary bytes off a request or response.

4

Reviewing log entries

Pretty-print a raw JSON log line so nested objects and arrays are easy to scan by eye.

Frequently asked questions

What does formatting JSON do?

Formatting (pretty-printing) adds consistent indentation and line breaks so nested objects and arrays are easy to read, without changing the underlying data.

What does minifying JSON do?

Minifying strips all unnecessary whitespace and line breaks, producing the smallest possible valid JSON — useful for reducing payload size in APIs or config files.

Is my JSON data sent to a server?

No. Formatting, validating, and minifying all run locally in your browser — nothing you paste is uploaded anywhere.

What happens if my JSON has an error?

The status message shows the exact parsing error, such as an unexpected token or a missing comma, so you can quickly find and fix the problem.