XML Formatter Online

Raw XML from an API response, config file export, or data dump is often a single unbroken line that's nearly impossible to read. This tool adds proper indentation and line breaks to make the structure visible.

How it works

The formatter parses your XML input client-side, then serialises it back out with consistent 2-space indentation and newlines between elements. It catches malformed XML and reports parsing errors so you can find and fix them.

How to use it

1. Paste your raw or minified XML into the input area
2. Click Format XML — the indented result appears on the right
3. Click copy to grab the formatted output

Example

Input: <root><item><name>test</name><value>42</value></item></root>

Output:

<root>
  <item>
    <name>test</name>
    <value>42</value>
  </item>
</root>

A few things worth knowing

• Valid XML only: The formatter requires well-formed XML. Common errors include unclosed tags, unescaped < or & characters in text content, and mismatched tag names. The error message will indicate the line and column of the problem
• Attributes stay on the same line: The formatter keeps attributes inline with their opening tag rather than splitting them onto separate lines — this is standard practice
• Whitespace in text nodes: If your XML has meaningful whitespace inside text nodes (like pre-formatted content), the formatter may affect it. Check the output if this matters for your use case

FAQ

What's the difference between XML and HTML? HTML is a specific markup language for web pages with a fixed set of tags. XML is a general-purpose markup format where you define your own tag names for structured data. XML is stricter — every tag must be properly closed and the document must be well-formed.

Can I minify XML too? This tool formats (beautifies) XML. To go the other direction and compress XML into a single line, remove all whitespace between tags manually or use a dedicated minifier.

Why does my XML throw an error even though it looked fine? Common issues: an & character in text content that should be &, a < that should be <, or a tag attribute value that uses the wrong quote style.

Related Tools

• JSON Formatter and Validator
• HTML Formatter