Lanxk

JSON Formatter Online Tool

2 min

Why I Built This JSON Formatter Tool

When I’m debugging websites, I constantly run into situations where I need to format JSON data to make it readable. You know how it is - you’re working on a project and suddenly you’ve got this messy JSON response that’s impossible to read.

For years, my workflow was pretty straightforward: open up DevTools in Edge or Chrome, go to the Network tab, copy the JSON response, then open VS Code, create a temp file, paste it in, and format it. It was a bit tedious, but I got used to it and it worked fine.

But then I hit a wall. I started dealing with JSON strings that needed unescaping, and my usual routine just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I’d copy the JSON into VS Code, try to format it, and… nothing. I’d have to find some online tool to unescape it first, then go back to VS Code to format it.

The problem was that most online JSON formatters are pretty unforgiving. If your JSON isn’t perfectly formatted, they just give up. I’d spend way too much time hunting down syntax errors, fixing them, and then trying again.

So I thought, “Why not just build my own tool that handles all this stuff?” And that’s exactly what I did. I built this JSON formatter website.

JSON Format Tool
JSON Format Tool

I built in all the features I wished existed: automatic unescaping, removing those annoying quotes at the beginning and end (both single and double), and tons of error tolerance - like allowing unquoted keys, single quotes, and trailing commas. Basically, I made it handle all the messy JSON that other tools reject.

How to Use It

It’s dead simple. Just copy your messy JSON data, click the “Paste” button (or use the keyboard shortcut), and boom - it automatically unescapes, cleans up quotes, and formats everything into beautiful, readable JSON.

Try It Out (Available in 4 Languages)

If you run into any issues or have feature requests, drop me a line!

Website JSON Formatter