XML Formatter & Beautifier
Format, beautify, and validate your XML data instantly in a secure, client-side environment.
Formatted output will appear here...About XML Formatter
XML Formatter is a free online tool that takes minified, concatenated, or inconsistently indented XML and restructures it into a human-readable format with correct, consistent indentation. It handles SOAP envelopes, RSS/Atom feeds, SVG files, XSLT stylesheets, Maven POM files, Android resource XMLs, and any other well-formed XML document. The tag hierarchy is made immediately visible so you can understand structure at a glance rather than hunting through a wall of angle brackets.
Beyond formatting, the tool works in the opposite direction too: its Minify mode compresses any XML down to a single whitespace-free line, which reduces payload size for network transmission and storage. The built-in XML validator catches malformed documents before they cause silent failures downstream — missing closing tags, mismatched element names, and illegal characters are all reported with a clear error message. You can choose between 2-space, 4-space, or tab indentation to match your project's code style, and you can upload .xml, .svg, .xsl, or .xslt files directly from disk.
All processing runs entirely inside your browser using the native DOMParser API. Your XML is never sent to a server, never logged, and never stored anywhere outside your own machine. This makes the tool safe for confidential API responses, internal configuration files, and proprietary data feeds. There is no account required, no rate limit, and no cost.
Key Features
Format and minify in one tool
Switch between beautify and minify modes without leaving the page. Format for readability when debugging; minify for production deployment or network transfer.
Strict XML validation
The browser's DOMParser enforces XML well-formedness rules. Unclosed tags, mismatched element names, and invalid characters are caught immediately with a descriptive error rather than silently producing wrong output.
Configurable indentation
Choose 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or a tab character to match your existing code style. The setting persists while you work so you do not have to reselect it for each document.
File upload and download
Load .xml, .svg, .xsl, and .xslt files directly from your computer instead of copy-pasting large documents. Download the formatted result as a named .xml file in one click.
100% client-side processing
Every format and minify operation runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or sent to a server, so sensitive configuration files and proprietary data feeds stay on your machine.
Handles processing instructions and declarations
XML declarations (<?xml version="1.0"?>), processing instructions, and CDATA sections are preserved in place so the output remains a valid, well-formed XML document.
How to Use
Paste Your XML
Copy your raw or minified XML and paste it into the input editor on the left.
Format or Minify
Click "Format" to beautify with proper indentation, or "Minify" to compress into a single line.
Copy the Result
Use the copy button to grab your formatted XML, or download it as an .xml file.
Example
Minified XML is expanded into an indented tree. Each element starts on its own line, and child elements are indented one level deeper than their parent.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><order id="ORD-9821"><customer><name>Alice Chen</name><email>alice@example.com</email></customer><items><item sku="A12"><qty>2</qty><price>14.99</price></item><item sku="B07"><qty>1</qty><price>34.50</price></item></items></order><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<order id="ORD-9821">
<customer>
<name>Alice Chen</name>
<email>alice@example.com</email>
</customer>
<items>
<item sku="A12">
<qty>2</qty>
<price>14.99</price>
</item>
<item sku="B07">
<qty>1</qty>
<price>34.50</price>
</item>
</items>
</order>Common Use Cases
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Debugging SOAP and REST API responses
API responses from SOAP web services or XML-based REST endpoints arrive as a single compressed string. Format them here to inspect the element hierarchy, find missing fields, and trace integration errors without a dedicated IDE.
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Reading and editing configuration files
Maven POM files, Spring XML context files, Android resource XMLs, and log4j configs are often auto-generated with inconsistent spacing. Paste them in to get a clean, readable version you can actually navigate.
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Inspecting RSS and Atom feeds
News feeds, podcast feeds, and sitemap XMLs are rarely formatted in the wild. Format a feed to see the channel structure, verify item counts, and check that required elements like <pubDate> or <guid> are present.
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Compressing XML for deployment or storage
Use the Minify mode to strip all whitespace from formatted XML before embedding it in a payload, storing it in a database column, or shipping it as a production config file where every byte counts.
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Validating XML before pipeline ingestion
Data pipelines and ETL jobs that consume XML fail in hard-to-diagnose ways when given malformed input. Paste your file here first to confirm it is well-formed and catch parse errors before they reach your ingestion code.