JSON Formatter & Validator
Paste your JSON to format, validate, and beautify it instantly.
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How to Use This Tool
- Paste your raw or minified code into the JSON Formatter input area at the top of the page.
- Adjust formatting options if shown, then watch the JSON Formatter produce clean, readable output in real time.
- Copy the formatted result to your clipboard and paste it straight into your editor or pull request.
Common Use Cases
- API debugging: Backend developers paste raw API responses to inspect nested structures, spot missing fields, and verify schema before integrating.
- Config file cleanup: DevOps engineers reformat minified package.json or tsconfig.json files to make diffs reviewable in pull requests.
- Log analysis: SREs paste single-line JSON log entries from CloudWatch or Datadog to expand them into readable, traversable trees.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I fix "Unexpected token" errors in JSON?
Common causes: trailing commas (JSON forbids them, unlike JavaScript), single quotes instead of double quotes, unquoted keys, or JS comments. Paste your JSON above and the formatter highlights the line and column of the first parse error so you can fix it directly.
What's the difference between JSON and JSON5?
JSON5 is a superset that allows comments, trailing commas, unquoted keys, and single quotes. It's used in tsconfig.json and Babel configs but is not valid plain JSON. The formatter targets strict RFC 8259 JSON; use a JSON5 parser if you need the extras.
How do I minify JSON for production?
Strip all whitespace and newlines outside string literals; this typically shrinks files 20-40%. The formatter has a minify toggle that produces a single-line output. For larger savings, gzip the response: JSON compresses well because of repeated keys.