XML Formatter

XML Formatter parses your markup, checks it for well-formedness, and re-prints it with clean, consistent indentation — or collapses it down to a single compact line. Nothing is uploaded anywhere: parsing and formatting happen entirely inside your browser.

What is XML Formatter and Why is it Useful?

XML Formatter is a free online tool for developers, QA engineers, and anyone who deals with config files, SOAP/REST payloads, RSS feeds, or Android/Maven build files. Hand-written or minified XML — exported from an API response, a log file, or a build tool — is often unreadable on a single line. This tool turns it back into a properly indented tree so you can actually read and debug it, or strips the whitespace back out when you need a compact payload.

Key Features

• Real XML Parsing: The tool parses your input with the browser's built-in XML parser rather than guessing with regular expressions, so the output is based on the actual document structure.
• Format and Minify: Use Format to pretty-print with 2-space indentation, or Minify to strip all whitespace into a single line.
• Handles Real-World XML: Nested elements, attributes, self-closing tags, comments, CDATA sections, and processing instructions are all preserved correctly.
• Clear Error Messages: If the XML is malformed (unclosed tags, mismatched elements, invalid characters), you get a readable error instead of a silent failure or a crash.
• Maximum Privacy: Everything runs client-side. Your XML is never sent to a server.

How to Use XML Formatter

1. Paste your XML into the input box on the left.
2. Click Format to beautify it with indentation, or Minify to compact it onto one line.
3. Read any parsing errors directly above the output if your XML isn't well-formed.
4. Click Copy to copy the result to your clipboard, or Clear to start over.

Why Choose This Tool?

Many online XML formatters send your document to a remote server to process it — a real concern if your XML contains API keys, internal hostnames, or other sensitive configuration. This tool does all parsing and formatting locally using your browser's native XML engine, so your data never leaves your device.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does this tool validate XML, or just format it?

It checks that your XML is well-formed (correctly nested and closed tags, valid syntax) using the browser's XML parser. It does not validate against an external XSD or DTD schema.

Will it preserve comments and CDATA sections?

Yes. Comments (<!-- ... -->) and <![CDATA[ ... ]]> blocks are kept intact in both the formatted and minified output.

What happens if I paste invalid XML?

You'll see a clear error message describing the problem instead of broken output, so you can find and fix the issue in your source.

Is my XML uploaded anywhere?

No. All parsing and formatting happens locally in your browser. Nothing is transmitted over the network.