Paste raw or minified JSON to format, validate, and highlight syntax errors. The tool runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.
How to use
Format JSON — paste raw or compact JSON and click Format JSON to get a beautified, indented output with syntax highlighting.
Minify JSON — paste formatted JSON and click Minify to compress it into a single line. Useful when you need to embed JSON in a variable, pass it through a CLI tool, or reduce payload size.
Validate — if the input is invalid, the tool shows the exact line and column of the error together with a context snippet and a pointer to the problem character.
Example
Input — compact JSON from an API response:
{"name":"John","roles":["admin","user"],"active":true}Output after formatting:
{
"name": "John",
"roles": [
"admin",
"user"
],
"active": true
}When do sysadmins use a JSON formatter
JSON appears constantly in sysadmin and DevOps work — API responses, Azure and AWS resource configurations, log entries, Terraform output, and PowerShell objects serialized with ConvertTo-Json. In most of these contexts the JSON arrives compact and unreadable.
A formatter lets you quickly inspect the structure, find a specific key, or verify that a configuration block is correct before applying it. The minify direction is equally useful: when passing JSON as a command-line argument or storing it in a variable, whitespace causes problems and a single-line compact form is required.
Frequently asked questions
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight text format for storing and exchanging structured data. It uses key-value pairs and supports strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, and nested objects.
JSON is the dominant data format for REST APIs, configuration files, and infrastructure tooling. It is easy to read by humans and straightforward to parse by machines.
Common causes:
- Trailing comma after the last item —
{"key": "value",}is not valid JSON - Single quotes instead of double quotes — JSON requires
"double quotes"for keys and string values - Unquoted keys —
{key: "value"}is invalid; must be{"key": "value"} - Missing comma between two items in an object or array
- Comments — standard JSON does not support
// commentsor/* block comments */
This tool shows the exact line, column, and a context snippet so you can find the problem immediately.
Formatting (also called pretty-printing) takes compressed or minified JSON and adds consistent indentation and line breaks to make the structure readable.
For example, {"a":1,"b":[1,2,3]} becomes a properly indented multi-line block. This makes it easier to read, debug, and compare payloads from APIs, logs, or configuration files.
JSONC (JSON with Comments) is an extended format that allows // and /* */ comments. It is used by tools like VS Code for configuration files such as settings.json and tsconfig.json.
Standard JSON does not support comments. If you paste JSONC into a standard JSON parser it will fail at the first comment. Remove all comments before using this formatter.
JSON is used across modern IT infrastructure:
- REST APIs — request and response bodies in virtually every web service
- Configuration files — VS Code, ESLint, Terraform, Ansible, package.json
- Log files — structured logging in applications and cloud platforms
- Databases — PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch store and query JSON natively
- Infrastructure as Code — AWS CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager templates
- PowerShell —
ConvertTo-JsonandConvertFrom-Jsonfor working with APIs and config
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Useful links
- JSON dummy data — large sample JSON files for testing formatters and parsers