Code Beautifier — Free Online Formatter for HTML, CSS, JS, JSON
Beautify minified or messy HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, XML, SQL with proper indentation, line breaks, and consistent style. Free.
About Code Beautifier
A code beautifier (formatter / pretty-printer) takes minified, compressed, or inconsistently-indented code and rewrites it with proper indentation, line breaks, and stylistic consistency. Used to read minified third-party code, untangle code dropped without formatting, normalise diffs across team contributions, and prepare snippets for presentations or documentation. The ZTools Code Beautifier supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript / TypeScript, JSON, XML, SQL, and Markdown. Configurable indentation (2/4 spaces or tabs), max line length, and language-specific style options.
Use cases
- Read minified third-party code. A library you're debugging shipped only minified JS. Beautify to read the logic, find the bug, file the upstream issue.
- Format pasted snippets for documentation. Code copied from a chat / email may have lost its indentation. Beautify before pasting into a tutorial or wiki.
- Normalise diff noise. Two contributors used different indentation (tabs vs 2-space). Run the file through the beautifier first; diff is then about logic, not whitespace.
- Untangle generated SQL queries. ORM-generated SQL is often single-line and hard to read. Beautifier wraps SELECT clauses, indents JOINs and WHEREs.
How it works
- Paste code. Multi-language detection or manual language pick.
- Pick indentation. 2 spaces (modern default), 4 spaces (Python / Java norm), or tabs.
- Pick style options. Max line length (80 / 100 / 120), brace style (1TBS / Allman / GNU), trailing comma toggle.
- Format. Outputs formatted code with syntax highlighting; preserves comments.
- Copy / download. Clipboard or .formatted-extension file download.
Examples
Input: Minified JS: `function a(b,c){return b+c}`
Output: `function a(b, c) {\n return b + c;\n}` — readable, consistent style.
Input: Single-line SQL: `SELECT * FROM users WHERE active=1 ORDER BY name`
Output: `SELECT *\nFROM users\nWHERE active = 1\nORDER BY name;` — clauses on separate lines.
Input: Inline JSON
Output: Indented JSON with 2-space indent and key-value alignment.
Frequently asked questions
Beautifier vs Prettier?
Prettier is an opinionated formatter — minimal config, runs as part of dev workflow, integrates with editors and pre-commit hooks. Beautifier is for quick one-off formatting in the browser. Use Prettier in your project; use this tool for ad-hoc tasks.
Can it format a whole file?
Yes — paste the entire file contents. For VERY large files, run a CLI formatter (Prettier, Black for Python) instead.
Will it preserve comments?
Yes — JSDoc, single-line, multi-line comments preserved with adjusted indentation.
Does it handle TypeScript / JSX?
Yes — the JS beautifier handles modern syntax including TS type annotations and JSX/TSX.
What about Python / Go / Rust?
These languages have their own ecosystem formatters (Black, gofmt, rustfmt) integrated with editors. Browser-based formatting is uncommon for them; use the language-native tools.
Can it minify (the inverse)?
Use the dedicated Code Minifier tool — different process, different settings.
Pro tips
- For your own project, install Prettier + a pre-commit hook — automate the formatting; never argue about it again.
- Tab vs space wars: pick one team-wide convention and stick with it. The beautifier output reflects your choice.
- For minified JS / CSS, beautify before reading — but remember names may be obfuscated (single-letter vars).
- For SQL, line-per-clause + uppercased keywords is standard — modern SQL formatters do both.
- Always backup original code before formatting — formatters occasionally have bugs that change semantics.
Reviewed by Ahsan Mahmood · Last updated 2026-05-06 · Part of ZTools.
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