JSON Prettifier

Format and beautify your JSON data with customizable indentation options. Perfect for developers who need to make complex JSON structures more readable and well-organized.

What is JSON Prettification?

JSON prettification (also called "pretty printing") formats JSON data with proper indentation and line breaks, making it much easier to read and understand, especially for complex nested objects and arrays.

Features

• Customizable indentation: Choose between 1-4 spaces or tabs
• Real-time formatting: Updates instantly as you type
• Copy to clipboard: Copy formatted JSON easily
• Download support: Save as JSON file
• Sample data: Includes sample JSON for testing
• Error handling: Clear error messages for invalid JSON
• Preserves structure: Maintains exact data structure while improving readability

How to use this tool

1. Enter your JSON data in the input field
2. Select your preferred indentation (spaces or tabs)
3. Click "Prettify JSON" to format the data
4. Copy or download the formatted result

Indentation Options

• 1-4 spaces: Standard indentation levels
• Tabs: Use tab characters instead of spaces
• Consistent: Maintains consistent indentation throughout nested structures
• Customizable: Choose what works best for your project

Example

Input JSON (minified):

{"user":{"id":12345,"name":"John Doe","profile":{"age":30,"city":"New York","hobbies":["reading","coding"],"settings":{"theme":"dark","notifications":true}},"posts":[{"id":1,"title":"First Post","content":"Hello world!"}]}}

Prettified Output (2 spaces):

{
  "user": {
    "id": 12345,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "profile": {
      "age": 30,
      "city": "New York",
      "hobbies": [
        "reading",
        "coding"
      ],
      "settings": {
        "theme": "dark",
        "notifications": true
      }
    },
    "posts": [
      {
        "id": 1,
        "title": "First Post",
        "content": "Hello world!"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Best practices

• Use consistent indentation across your project
• Choose 2 spaces for web projects (common standard)
• Use 4 spaces for Python projects (PEP 8 standard)
• Validate JSON before prettifying to catch syntax errors
• Use tabs if your editor/IDE is configured for tabs

Common use cases

• API responses: Format server responses for debugging
• Configuration files: Make config files human-readable
• Data migration: Review data structure before migration
• Code documentation: Include readable JSON examples
• Debugging: Spot issues in complex nested structures
• Team collaboration: Share readable JSON with team members

FAQ

What's the difference between prettification and minification? Prettification makes JSON more readable by adding whitespace and indentation, while minification removes all unnecessary whitespace to make files smaller.

Can I use this with very large JSON files? Yes, but for extremely large files, you may want to consider streaming or chunked processing for better performance.

Does prettification change the JSON structure? No, prettification only adds whitespace and formatting - it doesn't change the actual data structure or values.

What's the standard indentation for JSON? 2 spaces is the most common standard for web development, but 4 spaces is also widely used, especially in projects that follow Python's PEP 8 style guide.

Related tools on ChangeBlogger

• JSON Syntax Highlighter – for color-coded JSON display
• JSON Minifier – for compressing JSON files
• JSON Validator – for checking JSON syntax
• JSON Stringifier – for converting JavaScript objects to JSON
• JSON to CSV Converter – for converting JSON to spreadsheet format