JSON Formatter
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JSON Formatter and Validator

Format, validate & minify JSON

How to Use

  1. 1

    Paste your JSON into the input box. It is validated and formatted automatically with syntax highlighting.

  2. 2

    If your JSON has errors, they are highlighted with a message showing the exact location of the problem.

  3. 3

    Use the Minify button to compress JSON for production use, or adjust indentation (2 spaces, 4 spaces, tabs) using the format options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this validate my JSON? ▼
Yes. The formatter runs your JSON through a strict parser and immediately highlights any errors with a descriptive message pinpointing the location of the problem. Common mistakes detected include missing commas between elements, unquoted object keys, trailing commas after the last element (valid in JavaScript but not in JSON), mismatched brackets and braces, and incorrect data types. This makes it easy to find and fix malformed JSON from API responses, log files, or configuration files.
Can I minify JSON? ▼
Yes. The Minify button strips all whitespace, newlines, and indentation to produce the most compact possible JSON string. Minified JSON is ideal for API responses where bandwidth matters, configuration files embedded in code, data serialised for storage or transmission, and any situation where readability is secondary to file size. Minified JSON is functionally identical to formatted JSON - it contains exactly the same data.
Is my JSON data private? ▼
Yes, completely. All formatting, validation, and minification happen directly in your browser using the built-in JavaScript JSON.parse and JSON.stringify functions. Your JSON data is never transmitted to any server, never logged, and never stored. This means you can safely paste API keys in configuration JSON, database query results, internal business data, or any sensitive JSON without privacy concerns.
What indentation options are available? ▼
You can choose between 2 spaces (the most common default in JavaScript projects and style guides like Airbnb and StandardJS), 4 spaces (common in Python and some older JavaScript codebases), or tabs (preferred in Go and some other languages). The choice is purely aesthetic - all three produce functionally identical JSON that any parser will read correctly.

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About this Tool

JSON is the universal data interchange format for modern APIs, configuration files, and web applications, but raw JSON is often hard to read - especially when it arrives minified (all on one line) from an API response or log file. This formatter instantly beautifies JSON with proper indentation and syntax highlighting, making it easy to inspect, debug, and understand the structure of any JSON data. It also validates your JSON in real time, catching syntax errors before they cause issues in your code. Beyond formatting, it can minify JSON back to a compact form for production use. Commonly used by developers debugging API responses, backend engineers reviewing log data, and anyone working with configuration files in JSON format.