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JSON Pretty Print

Pretty print JSON with 2 or 4 space indent

How to Use JSON Pretty Print

  1. Open JSON Pretty Print above — it loads instantly, no signup or download required.
  2. Provide your input (paste text, drop a file, or type directly into the tool).
  3. Get your result instantly — everything is processed locally in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
  4. Copy or download the output. Refresh the page to clear all data from memory.

About JSON Pretty Print

What this page solves

You have a single-line JSON blob from `curl`, a log file, or a database column and you need it indented for a code review, ticket, or readme — without pasting it into a third-party site.

JSON Pretty Print indents any JSON blob with your choice of 2 or 4 spaces directly in your browser, so a single-line `curl` output, a database `JSONB` column, or a compact webhook body becomes a readable, copy-friendly document ready for a code review, a Jira ticket, a `README.md`, or a Slack snippet — without sending the payload to a third-party server. Paste the JSON, pick your indent style, optionally sort keys A→Z so reviewers see a stable structure, and the formatted output appears with line numbers and the exact byte count before and after. The native `JSON.parse` engine validates the input first, so you get instant error-line pointing on any malformed payload instead of a silent half-formatted result. Most professionals reach for this when documenting an API, building a sample payload for a runbook, or preparing a JSON fixture for a unit test — places where indentation matters but uploading the data is a non-starter. Once it is pretty, you might also want the JSON Minify tool to do the reverse for production, the JSON Viewer for a collapsible tree of the same payload, or the JSON Diff tool to compare two pretty-printed versions. Runs entirely in your browser — no upload, no signup, no logs.

Common Use Cases

  • Convert a single-line `curl` response into 2-space indented JSON for a README
  • Pretty-print a JSONB column copied out of Postgres for a code review
  • Format a compact webhook body for inclusion in a Jira bug report
  • Indent a sample API payload for inclusion in OpenAPI / Swagger documentation
  • Convert minified config into 4-space indent for a team that prefers wider gutters
  • Sort keys alphabetically while pretty-printing so diffs against future versions stay stable

Related tools in Developer Tools

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Frequently asked questions

How to use JSON Pretty Print?

1) Open the tool. 2) Enter or upload your input. 3) Get your result instantly. Everything happens locally — nothing is uploaded.

When should I use JSON Pretty Print?

Use it any time you need to convert a one-line JSON string into properly indented, human-readable JSON with your choice of 2 or 4 spaces.

Is JSON Pretty Print safe?

Yes. JSON Pretty Print runs 100% in your browser. Inputs are never uploaded, stored, or logged — safe for confidential content.

Will quality be affected by JSON Pretty Print?

JSON Pretty Print performs lossless operations — your content is not re-encoded or downgraded.

What formats does JSON Pretty Print support?

JSON Pretty Print supports JSON, YAML, XML, CSV, TOML and other developer-friendly text formats

Is JSON Pretty Print free?

Yes — JSON Pretty Print is completely free, with no registration, no watermarks, and no usage limits.

Should I use 2 or 4 space indent?

2 spaces is the de-facto standard in JavaScript, TypeScript, Node and most JSON-handling languages (it matches Prettier and ESLint defaults). 4 spaces is common in Python-centric teams and on documentation sites where the wider indent reads better at a distance. Either is valid JSON — pick the one your team uses.

What does "sort keys A→Z" do, and when should I use it?

It alphabetically sorts every object's keys at every nesting level before printing. The result is still valid, equivalent JSON (key order is not significant in JSON), but the byte-for-byte output is now deterministic — two semantically identical payloads will pretty-print identically, which makes diffing them with the [LINK:JSON Diff|/tool/json-diff] tool show only the real changes.

Why does the output not match `JSON.stringify(obj, null, 2)` exactly?

It does — same engine, same output. If they differ, the source JSON probably had a non-standard feature (trailing comma, JS comment, single-quoted string) that the parser silently corrected. Strict standard JSON in equals strict standard JSON out.

Can I pretty-print JSON inside a larger string or log line?

Not in one shot — the parser expects a single root JSON value. Extract the JSON substring first (everything from the opening `{` or `[` to its matching close), paste that, and the rest of the log line stays untouched.