Production XML (SOAP messages, RSS feeds, sitemap.xml, configuration files) is often delivered minified or with inconsistent formatting. Beautifying restores structure so you can trace nested element hierarchies, debug WSDL/SOAP envelopes, audit XML documents for accessibility, prepare snippets for documentation, or modify generated XML by hand.

Does it preserve XML attributes and namespaces?

Yes. All attributes (including namespace declarations like xmlns:soap), namespace prefixes (soap:Envelope, xs:element), CDATA sections ( ), processing instructions ( ), and DOCTYPE declarations are preserved exactly. Only whitespace between elements is reformatted; element names, attribute values, and text content remain identical.

Can I customize the indentation?

Yes. Choose 2-space, 4-space, or tab indentation. 2 spaces is common in modern config files; 4 spaces matches some XML standards (XSL stylesheets, MSBuild project files); tab indentation is preferred in projects that want flexible display widths. Your preference is saved automatically.

Will it preserve sections?

Yes. Content inside CDATA sections is preserved exactly — no indentation added inside, since CDATA contents are typically code, raw text, or data that must remain unchanged. The same applies to , comments, and other XML constructs that have white-space-significant content.

Does the beautifier validate XML?

The beautifier does basic structural processing (matching opening and closing tags) but is not a strict XML validator. It accepts well-formed XML and reformats it. For full validation against a schema (XSD, DTD, RelaxNG), use a dedicated XML validator. Common errors caught implicitly: unbalanced tags, missing closing tags, malformed attributes.

Can I beautify XML fragments or partial documents?

Yes. The beautifier doesn't require a full document with declaration — you can paste partial fragments like a single element tree, isolated SOAP message body, or just a few elements. The output preserves the same structure with proper indentation.

Is my XML sent to a server?

No. All processing happens in your browser. Your XML never leaves your device — safe for confidential SOAP messages, internal API responses, configuration files, or any XML containing private data. Works offline once the page is loaded.

XML Beautifier

Format and indent XML data online with proper nesting and syntax highlighting. Free XML beautifier with validation support.

Code Formatters

Instant results

Indent:

Upload

Minified or Messy XML0 characters

Beautified XML

Formatted XML will appear here...

About XML Beautifier

This XML Beautifier formats your XML documents with proper indentation and line breaks. It makes XML data files, configuration files, and API responses readable and easy to understand.

How to Use XML Beautifier

Paste your XML

Paste minified or messy XML into the input editor on the left, or click Upload to pick a .xml file from disk. SOAP envelopes, RSS feeds, configuration files, and document fragments all work.

Choose indentation

Select 2-space, 4-space, or tab indentation. 2 spaces is common in modern config files; 4 spaces matches XSL/MSBuild conventions. Your preference is saved automatically.

View beautified output

The properly formatted XML appears instantly with each child element indented under its parent, attributes aligned, and CDATA/comments preserved exactly.

Copy or download

Click Copy to put the beautified XML on your clipboard, or Download to save it as an .xml file. Use it for SOAP debugging, documentation, code reviews, or modifying API responses.

When to Use XML Beautifier

Debugging SOAP/WSDL responses

SOAP web services return verbose XML envelopes that are nearly impossible to read on a single line. Beautifying SOAP messages reveals the envelope structure, namespaces, header elements, and body parameters — essential for debugging integration issues with enterprise APIs (.NET, Java, banking, healthcare systems).

Reviewing RSS, Atom, and sitemap feeds

RSS feeds, Atom syndication, and XML sitemaps from your or competitors' sites are often delivered minified. Beautifying lets you audit feed quality, validate sitemap structure (URL count, lastmod dates), check Open Graph article structure, and ensure your feeds contain expected metadata.

Inspecting configuration files

Many tools use XML configs: Maven pom.xml, MSBuild .csproj, log4j, Tomcat server.xml, ant build.xml. Production configs grow over time and lose formatting consistency. Beautifying produces clean, navigable structure for code reviews, audits, and onboarding new team members.

Working with EPUB, DOCX, and SVG files

Many file formats are XML under the hood (EPUB content.opf, DOCX document.xml, SVG, KML, GPX). Extract the XML, beautify it, and you can edit document structure manually. Useful for fixing broken e-books, customizing templates, or modifying SVG icons without an editor.

XML Beautifier Examples

Minified XML to readable

Input

<book id="1"><title>Hamlet</title><author>Shakespeare</author><year>1603</year></book>

Output

<book id="1">
  <title>Hamlet</title>
  <author>Shakespeare</author>
  <year>1603</year>
</book>

A single-line XML element tree becomes 5 readable lines. Each child element gets its own line indented under <book>. The id attribute is preserved on the opening tag. Element content (text values like 'Hamlet', '1603') stays on the same line as their tags — beautifying targets element structure, not text content.

SOAP envelope formatting

Input

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"><soap:Body><GetUserRequest><id>42</id></GetUserRequest></soap:Body></soap:Envelope>

Output

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Body>
    <GetUserRequest>
      <id>42</id>
    </GetUserRequest>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

A SOAP envelope is properly indented with each level of nesting visible. The xmlns:soap namespace declaration is preserved on the root <soap:Envelope> element, and the prefixed elements (soap:Body) are formatted alongside non-prefixed elements (GetUserRequest, id) consistently.

Preserving CDATA sections

Input

<config><script><![CDATA[var x = "test < > &";]]></script></config>

Output

<config>
  <script><![CDATA[var x = "test < > &";]]></script>
</config>

CDATA sections preserve their inner content exactly — no whitespace added, no characters escaped. The < > & inside CDATA stay as-is (which would normally need to be encoded as < > & in XML element content). The same preservation applies to processing instructions and comments.

Tips & Best Practices for XML Beautifier

1.Use 2-space indent for compact XML in code reviews and modern configurations. Use 4-space for documentation, presentations, and traditional XML standards (XSL, MSBuild) where readability is more important than density.
2.When debugging SOAP web services, capture the raw request/response from network logs (Wireshark, Fiddler, browser DevTools) and beautify here. The indented structure makes SOAP fault elements, header validation issues, and parameter mismatches obvious.
3.If you're working with XML that contains HTML (RSS feed item content), the HTML-as-text inside XML elements stays intact. To beautify the embedded HTML, extract it first, beautify with an HTML beautifier, then re-embed (with appropriate XML escaping or CDATA wrapping).
4.Watch for namespace prefix consistency. The beautifier preserves prefixes as-is, so xmlns:soap and xmlns:s used inconsistently in the same document stay inconsistent in the output. Normalize prefixes manually if needed for cross-document consistency.
5.For XML schema validation (XSD, DTD, RelaxNG), use a dedicated XML validator after beautifying. This tool only reformats whitespace; it doesn't enforce that your document conforms to a specific schema.
6.Very large XML files (>10 MB, like full XHTML documents or massive sitemaps) may take seconds to beautify. For multi-gigabyte XML, command-line tools like xmllint with --format are better suited.

Frequently Asked Questions

An XML Beautifier (also called an XML formatter or pretty-printer) takes minified, compressed, or messy XML and reformats it with proper indentation, consistent line breaks, and aligned nesting. The result is human-readable XML that's easy to inspect, debug, and modify. It preserves all elements, attributes, namespaces, and content — only whitespace between elements is reformatted.

XML Beautifier

About XML Beautifier

How to Use XML Beautifier

Paste your XML

Choose indentation

View beautified output

Copy or download

When to Use XML Beautifier

Debugging SOAP/WSDL responses

Reviewing RSS, Atom, and sitemap feeds

Inspecting configuration files

Working with EPUB, DOCX, and SVG files

XML Beautifier Examples

Minified XML to readable

SOAP envelope formatting

Preserving CDATA sections

Tips & Best Practices for XML Beautifier

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Tools

HTML Beautifier

CSS Beautifier

JavaScript Beautifier

JSON Beautifier

SQL Beautifier

GraphQL Formatter