JSON Formatter Guide

JSON is text that stores information as names and values. In "name":"Ana", name is the name of a piece of information, and Ana is its value. Long JSON is hard to read when everything sits on one line. JSON Formatter adds spacing so you can see what belongs where.

Try one small example

1. Open the tool and paste this into Input JSON:

   {"user":{"name":"Ana","active":true},"roles":["editor","reader"]}
   

2. Leave Indent at 2 and choose Format. Look in Output. You should see:

   {
     "user": {
       "name": "Ana",
       "active": true
     },
     "roles": [
       "editor",
       "reader"
     ]
   }
   

The braces { } group names and values together. The square brackets [ ] hold a list: here, two roles. The spaces and new lines help you read the data; the values have not changed.

Try the other controls

Choose Minify to put the same data back on one line. This removes extra spacing, not the names or values. Turn on key sorting to arrange names inside an object; the order of the two roles in the list should stay the same. Use Copy to take the result elsewhere.

If it says the JSON is invalid

Try pasting {name:"Ana"}. This will fail because JSON needs quotes around a name such as "name". Fix it to {"name":"Ana"} and format it again. Keep the input visible while fixing an error; you do not need to start from scratch.

Where your input goes

Processing runs in your browser. The tool does not upload your input to ilham.dev.

What to watch for

• Sorting only changes object keys
• Array order is preserved

Related guide

For more background, read Working With Structured Data.