XML Formatter — Prettify & Validate XML
Paste XML to format it with consistent indentation and readable structure, or minify it by removing whitespace. Invalid XML is caught immediately with a clear error message. Useful for working with API responses, RSS feeds, SVG files, configuration files, and any XML data you need to inspect or share.
How to Format XML
- 1Paste your XML into the input area
- 2Click 'Format XML' to prettify with indentation and line breaks
- 3Or click 'Minify XML' to collapse all whitespace into a single line
- 4Copy the result — error messages appear inline if the XML is invalid
Key Benefits
- Formats XML with 2-space indentation for immediate readability
- Minifies XML by removing all non-significant whitespace
- Validates structure and shows the first parse error clearly
- Uses the browser's built-in XML parser — no library, no server
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of XML does this tool handle?
This tool handles well-formed XML documents: RSS and Atom feeds, SOAP envelopes, SVG images, Maven and Gradle build files, Android manifests, Spring and Hibernate configuration files, and any XML produced by APIs or serializers. The formatter expects a single root element and standard XML syntax.
What are common XML formatting errors?
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What is the difference between formatting and minifying XML?
Formatting (pretty-printing) adds indentation and line breaks to make the structure human-readable. Minifying removes all whitespace between elements for the most compact representation — useful for reducing payload size in production or embedding XML in other data formats. Both produce functionally equivalent XML.
What is the difference between XML and JSON?
XML uses paired opening/closing tags and supports attributes, namespaces, comments, and CDATA sections — it can represent rich metadata. JSON uses key-value pairs and arrays with minimal syntax and is more compact. Most modern APIs prefer JSON, but XML remains standard in enterprise systems, SOAP services, RSS feeds, SVG, and office document formats (DOCX, XLSX).
When should I use XML minification?
Minify XML for production APIs, RSS feeds, or web responses where response size matters. Keep formatted XML in source control for readability and diff clarity. Avoid minifying when whitespace is semantically significant, such as in XML documents with mixed content where spacing between text and element nodes matters.
Does this tool preserve XML declarations and processing instructions?
The formatter rebuilds the element tree from the parsed document. Standard elements, attributes, and text nodes are preserved. XML declarations (<?xml version="1.0"?>) and processing instructions may not appear in the formatted output as the tool focuses on the element tree. For workflows where declarations must be preserved exactly, use a dedicated XML editor or IDE plugin.