XML Formatter
Format, minify and validate XML documents
Format, validate, and convert XML between pretty and minified forms
XML is still everywhere: SOAP APIs, RSS feeds, sitemaps, configuration files, document formats, and enterprise integration. This formatter pretty-prints XML, collapses it back to a single line, and surfaces parse errors so you can fix structural issues quickly. It also helps when you need to compare two payloads visually or paste XML into a ticket without losing your colleagues to angle-bracket fatigue.
- Paste raw XML, including processing instructions and namespaces, into the input panel.
- Format to indent the structure. The output highlights any parse errors so you can fix them at the source.
- Use minify when an API or transport explicitly requires compact XML, such as some SOAP envelopes.
- Copy the cleaned output into your test fixture, ticket, or HTTP request.
XML is still deeply embedded in real systems
JSON may dominate greenfield APIs, but XML remains central in SOAP, RSS, SAML, office document formats, payment systems, public-sector integrations, and a long tail of enterprise workflows. In those environments, the question is rarely whether XML exists. It is how safely and quickly you can inspect and correct it.
That means an XML page should explain namespaces, well-formedness vs schema validation, CDATA handling, and whitespace sensitivity instead of stopping at pretty-printing.
What to check first when XML breaks
A useful debugging approach is to separate syntax from constraints. Well-formedness is about matching tags, quoting attributes, and escaping entities. Schema and business rules are about allowed elements, order, cardinality, and namespace expectations.
Putting that distinction into the page text helps users triage problems much faster, and it gives the page far more informational depth for search engines.
Best use cases
- Reading SOAP requests and responses captured from a debugger or log.
- Cleaning RSS, Atom, and sitemap files before publishing them.
- Comparing configuration files such as POMs, Spring contexts, and build descriptors.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Whitespace inside elements is significant in XML by default. Reformatting can change the result if your consumer reads text content strictly.
- CDATA sections and comments need to be preserved exactly. Verify they appear unchanged after formatting.
- XML namespaces are part of element identity. Removing or rewriting prefixes may break consumers that match on the full namespace.
Related tools
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FAQ
Does the formatter validate against a schema?
It validates well-formedness (matching tags, valid syntax). For schema validation, use a dedicated XSD or DTD validator on your XML.
Why did my XML break after formatting?
Most often because the consumer relies on whitespace inside text nodes. Try formatting only the structure outside of mixed-content elements.
Can it convert XML to JSON?
Not directly here, but you can paste XML into the parser, then run a small script using fast-xml-parser locally. Consider using our YAML or JSON tools for the output side.