Free online XML formatter, minifier, and XML to JSON converter. Beautify messy XML, minify for production, or convert between XML and JSON — all in your browser.
XML Formatter is a free online tool that beautifies, minifies, and converts XML data. Paste messy or minified XML and instantly format it with proper indentation, convert XML to JSON for easier data manipulation, or convert JSON back to XML. All processing happens entirely in your browser using the native DOMParser API — your data never leaves your device.
Use XML Formatter when working with XML-based APIs (SOAP, RSS, Atom), Android manifest files, Maven/Gradle configuration files, or any XML data that needs to be readable. The XML to JSON converter is useful when you need to transform XML API responses into JSON for JavaScript applications, or when migrating from XML-based configs to JSON format.
Developers use XML Formatter to debug SOAP API responses, inspect RSS and Atom feeds, format Android layout XML files, clean up Maven POM files, convert XML configuration to JSON for modern frameworks, and prepare XML data for documentation or code reviews. DevOps engineers use it to inspect and validate CI/CD pipeline configurations that use XML format.
Essential terms and definitions related to XML Formatter & XML to JSON.
A markup language for encoding structured data in a human-readable and machine-readable text format. Unlike HTML, XML tags are not predefined — you define your own elements and attributes. XML is widely used for configuration files (Maven, Android), data interchange (SOAP APIs, RSS feeds), and document formats (SVG, XHTML, Office Open XML).
A browser-native API that parses XML or HTML strings into a DOM Document object. For XML, it performs full syntax validation and returns a parsererror element if the input is not well-formed. This tool uses DOMParser for XML parsing, ensuring standards-compliant validation without any external library.
A section in XML (wrapped in <![CDATA[...]]>) where text content is treated as literal character data, not parsed as XML markup. CDATA sections are used to include content that would otherwise require extensive entity escaping, such as HTML snippets, JavaScript code, or text containing many special characters.
Yes. The formatter uses the browser's native DOMParser which validates XML against the XML 1.0 specification. If your XML contains syntax errors like unclosed tags, missing attributes, or invalid characters, the tool will display the specific error message from the parser.
XML attributes are converted to JSON properties prefixed with @ (e.g., @id, @class). Text content of elements with attributes is stored under the #text key. This convention preserves all information from the original XML and allows lossless round-trip conversion.
Yes. The tool supports bidirectional conversion. Click "JSON → XML" to convert a JSON object back to XML format. The converter recognizes @ prefixed keys as attributes and #text as element text content.
The formatter preserves standard XML namespaces and their prefixed elements. Namespace declarations (xmlns) are maintained in the formatted output. The XML to JSON converter includes namespace prefixes in the JSON keys.
No. All formatting, minification, and conversion happens entirely in your browser using the native DOMParser and XMLSerializer APIs. Your data never leaves your device.
Common errors developers encounter and how to resolve them.
DOMParser error: XML Parsing Error — not well-formed This error means your XML has syntax issues. Common causes: unclosed tags (<tag> without </tag>), unescaped special characters (use & for &, < for <, > for >), missing root element (XML must have exactly one root), or invalid tag names (cannot start with numbers). Fix these issues in your source XML and try again.
XML to JSON produces unexpected structure with repeated elements When an XML element has multiple children with the same tag name, the converter groups them into a JSON array. For example, multiple <item> elements become "item": [...]. If you have a single <item>, it will be a direct value; with multiple items, it becomes an array. This is standard XML-to-JSON conversion behavior.
Special characters like & or < cause parsing failure XML requires escaping of five special characters: & → &, < → <, > → >, " → ", ' → '. If your XML contains unescaped ampersands in URLs or text content, they must be escaped. Alternatively, wrap content containing special characters in a CDATA section: <![CDATA[content with & and < here]]>.