What Does This Tool Do?

The Code Formatter takes raw, unstructured, or inconsistently formatted code and converts it into a neatly formatted version based on the language you select - or based on automatic detection if you choose Auto mode. It adjusts indentation, line breaks, and spacing so your code is easier to scan, understand, and review.

Under the hood, it:

• Splits and restructures HTML/XML/JSX/TSX by inserting logical newlines between tags and indenting nested elements using your chosen indent size.
• Normalizes CSS, SCSS & Less by structuring blocks, rules, and properties with line breaks and indentation.
• Parses and pretty-prints JSON with your selected indentation (2-5 spaces), and reports invalid JSON instead of silently failing.
• Applies brace-based indentation for C-style languages (JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C, C++, C#, PHP, Go, Rust, Kotlin, Swift, Dart & similar) so code blocks, functions, and control structures are visually aligned.
• Cleans up Markdown spacing and extra blank lines for more readable documentation and notes.
• Breaks SQL into logical clauses like SELECT, FROM, WHERE, and JOIN for easier query reading and debugging.
• Normalizes whitespace for Python, YAML & other indentation-sensitive or niche languages using a safe generic formatter so your text is cleaner without risking semantics.
• Automatically identifies common formats (HTML, JSON, SQL, Markdown, YAML, etc.) when you select Auto Detect, so you don’t have to manually choose.

The result is consistent, predictable formatting that mirrors common industry expectations and makes your codebase feel more professional and maintainable - regardless of which language your team prefers.

Why Would You Need To Use This?

In real-world development, code comes from many different places: quick fixes, copy-paste from docs, legacy snippets, or auto-generated output. These sources rarely follow the same style, making your files harder to read and maintain.

This formatter is helpful when you want to:

• Clean messy HTML, JSX, or XML you copied from external tools or WYSIWYG editors.
• Organize CSS/SCSS written over time into a more readable and consistent shape.
• Quickly validate and beautify JSON from APIs, config files, or logs before sharing or debugging, with your preferred indentation.
• Tidy JavaScript/TypeScript/PHP/Java/C-family snippets shared in chats, PRs, or docs where formatting got lost.
• Polish Markdown for documentation, README files, wiki pages, or technical blogs.
• Make long SQL queries easier to review, optimize, and debug by breaking them into logical lines.
• Clean up Python, YAML, shell scripts & more with safe whitespace normalization when you just want something more readable.
• Let Auto Detect do the heavy lifting when you’re not sure what format you received.

Because it runs entirely in the browser and requires no setup, it’s ideal for quick one-off formatting tasks when you don’t want to configure an editor or install CLI tools.

How To Use This Tool (Step-by-Step)

1. Choose the language: From the Code Language dropdown, select a specific language like HTML, CSS, JSON, JS/TS, PHP, SQL, Python, YAML, etc. - or select Auto Detect to let the tool infer it.
2. Select indent size: Choose 2, 3, 4, or 5 spaces per indent level to match your team or project standard.
3. Paste your code: In the Your Code textbox, paste or type the unformatted or partially formatted code you want to clean up. You can input snippets or entire files.
4. Click "Format Code": The tool will process your input and generate a neatly formatted version in the Formatted Code area below, using your chosen or detected language and indentation size.
5. Review the output: Scroll through the formatted code to confirm it matches your expectations. For JSON, if there is a parsing issue, the tool will return Invalid JSON instead of incorrect formatting.
6. Copy or download: Use the Copy button to place the formatted code on your clipboard for quick pasting into your editor, or use Download to save it with a language specific extension like .html, .js, .ts, .py, .sql, .md, .yaml, etc.
7. Repeat as needed: You can update the input, change languages or indent size, and re-run formatting as many times as you want— no reload required.

This simple loop - paste, choose indent, format, copy/download - makes it easy to integrate the tool into daily development, code reviews, teaching sessions, or documentation work.