What is XML Formatter?
XML Formatter is a developer utility engineered to format raw, minified, or unindented XML (eXtensible Markup Language) documents into structured, human-readable markups. XML remains widely used across enterprise integrations, SOAP web services, Android application manifests, Maven pom.xml build configurations, SVG graphics, and RSS feed outputs. When XML files are compressed for transport or auto-generated by software tools, they lack whitespace and line breaks, making inspection tedious. XML Formatter parses the document tree, enforces strict element nesting rules, and formats nodes with consistent indentation.
How to use XML Formatter
Paste your raw XML string into the text input area. The formatter immediately evaluates the document's well-formedness according to W3C XML specifications. If valid, the beautified XML document is generated in the output panel with clean tag indentation and syntax highlighting. Use the settings control to select 2-space or 4-space indentation depth. If the XML document contains syntax errors—such as unclosed tags, mismatched element names, or improper attribute quotes—the tool highlights the exact error line so you can fix it promptly. Once formatted, copy or download the result as a .xml file.
Key features
- Instant XML beautification and structural node formatting
- Configurable 2-space or 4-space tag indentation depth
- W3C XML well-formedness validation with inline error line detection
- Preserves CDATA blocks, processing instructions, and XML comments
- Color syntax highlighting for XML tags, attribute names, and string values
- Export formatted XML directly to file or system clipboard
- 100% client-side isolated browser execution for maximum security
Common use cases
- Formatting complex SOAP web service XML request and response payloads
- Cleaning up Android manifest (AndroidManifest.xml) and layout XML resources
- Beautifying Java build configuration files (pom.xml, build.xml, web.xml)
- Inspecting and editing SVG vector graphic markup files
- Formatting RSS and Atom XML syndication feeds
Technical details & standards
The formatter uses W3C-compliant XML parsing (DOMParser) to reconstruct the node hierarchy. It correctly distinguishes element nodes, attribute key-value pairs, CDATA sections, processing instructions (<?xml ... ?>), and XML comments (<!-- ... -->). All XML parsing operations execute client-side inside your browser runtime. Proprietary enterprise XML payloads, security credentials, and configuration files are never transmitted to external servers.
Frequently asked questions
Does the XML Formatter support XML namespaces?
Yes. Namespace attributes (xmlns:prefix=...) and prefixed tags (e.g., <soap:Envelope>) are fully supported and indented cleanly.
Will it format HTML documents as XML?
Only strict XHTML (valid XML-compliant HTML) will format correctly. For HTML5 documents with void tags (e.g. <meta>, <br>), use our HTML Formatter.
What happens to CDATA sections during formatting?
CDATA sections (<![CDATA[ ... ]>) are preserved verbatim without altering internal whitespace or text.
Is my data safe?
All processing happens entirely in your browser. Your data never leaves your device and is never sent to or stored on a server.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the page has loaded, most tools keep working without an internet connection.