XML Formatter Online – Pretty Print, Tree View, XPath & Minify

What is XML?

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a versatile markup language designed for storing and transporting structured data. Unlike HTML, which focuses on displaying information, XML is all about describing and organizing data in a way that's both human-readable and machine-parsable.

Originally developed in the late 1990s, XML has become a foundational technology for data exchange across countless industries, from web services and configuration files to document formats and database exports.

How This XML Formatter & Viewer Works

This tool transforms raw XML into readable formatted text or an interactive tree. Use Formatted mode to pretty-print or minify with Format, Minify, and Clear controls on the input panel. Switch to Tree View to explore structure, search nodes, run XPath queries, and expand or collapse branches. Whether you're debugging a SOAP response, editing configuration files, or analyzing data exports, everything runs locally in your browser.

Key Features:

• Smart Formatting: Automatically indents nested elements with customizable spacing (2, 3, 4 spaces, or tabs)
• Formatted & Tree Views: Side-by-side input and output panes stack vertically on narrow screens
• Input Actions: Formatted mode: Format, Minify, and Clear on the input header; Tree View: Clear only
• Interactive Tree View: Expand/collapse nodes, Expand all / Collapse all on the result panel, and click the tree to copy its structure
• Real-time Validation: Instantly detects malformed XML with helpful error messages and position indicators
• Minification: Compress XML by removing unnecessary whitespace for efficient transmission
• Node Search: Quickly find elements, attributes, or text content within large documents (Tree View)
• XPath Highlighting: Enter an XPath expression (e.g. //book[@id='1']) in Tree View to highlight matching nodes
• Attribute Sorting: Optionally sort attributes alphabetically for consistency
• Comment Handling: Choose to preserve or remove XML comments in Formatted mode, or hide them in Tree View
• CDATA Support: Properly handles CDATA sections without corruption
• One-Click Copy: Click formatted output, tree view, quick examples, or syntax reference items to copy
• Persistent Settings: View mode, indentation, and option toggles are saved in localStorage

Input/Output Examples:

<catalog><book id="1"><title>XML Essentials</title><author>Jane Doe</author></book></catalog>

<catalog>
  <book id="1">
    <title>XML Essentials</title>
    <author>Jane Doe</author>
  </book>
</catalog>

Tree View Feature

Tree View provides an interactive, hierarchical visualization of your XML document. Search nodes by name or attribute, run XPath queries to highlight matches, and use Expand all / Collapse all on the result panel to navigate large files quickly.

Tree View Capabilities:

• Expand/Collapse: Click any element to show or hide its children; use Expand all / Collapse all for the whole tree
• Visual Indicators: Different icons for elements, text, comments, and CDATA sections
• Child Count: See how many children each element contains at a glance
• Attribute Display: All attributes are shown inline with color coding
• Search Highlighting: Matching nodes are highlighted in yellow when searching
• XPath Highlighting: XPath matches are highlighted in blue; match count appears below the expression field
• Click to Copy: Click anywhere on the tree panel to copy the structure as text
• Path Tracking: Understand the exact location of each element in the document hierarchy

Common Use Cases

XML Fundamentals

Basic XML Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
  <element attribute="value">
    Text content
  </element>
  <empty-element />
  <!-- This is a comment -->
  <![CDATA[Special <characters> allowed here]]>
</root>

XML Rules:

• Well-formed: Every opening tag must have a closing tag
• Case-sensitive: <Element> and <element> are different
• Single Root: Documents must have exactly one root element
• Proper Nesting: Elements must be properly nested
• Quoted Attributes: Attribute values must be quoted

Special Characters:

Frequently Asked Questions

Pro Tips

• Large Documents: Use Tree View with search or XPath instead of scrolling formatted text
• XPath Queries: Try //element, /root/child, or //*[@id='1'] to locate nodes quickly
• Debugging: Error messages include position information—look for the indicated line/column in your input
• Comparison: Enable Sort Attributes when comparing XML documents to normalize attribute order
• Clean Output: Use Remove Comments (Formatted) or Hide Comments (Tree View) for production-ready XML
• Quick Copy: Click formatted output, the tree panel, quick examples, or syntax reference tags to copy

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