XML Minifier – Free Online XML Compressor & Formatter

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About Online XML Minifier

Paste your XML, choose between Format and Minify, and get clean output optimized either for readability or for size. This tool is wired to keep your XML valid and structurally intact while improving human readability or reducing payload size for production.

Key Features of the XML Formatter & Minifier

Dual mode: human-friendly Format or compact Minify with a single click
Minify mode removes XML comments and collapses whitespace strictly between tags (text nodes & CDATA preserved)
Format mode normalizes indentation, line breaks and nesting depth for easier reading and code review
Configurable indent size (1–8) and indent style (spaces or tabs) in Format mode
Supports common XML-based formats: XML, XSL/XSLT, XSD, WSDL, plist, Android layouts, sitemap.xml and SVG
Preserves CDATA sections, processing instructions and namespaces by design
Respects line-ending preferences (LF/CRLF) and optional wrap length hints in Format mode
Runs via a client-side XML formatter/minifier adapter with sensible size and timeout limits

🛠️ How to Format or Minify XML Online for xml-minifier

1. Paste or upload your XML

📥 Paste XML into the editor or drop a <code>.xml</code>, <code>.xsl</code>, <code>.xsd</code>, <code>.wsdl</code> or <code>.plist</code> file into the dropzone. The tool expects syntactically valid XML.

2. Choose Format or Minify

🎛️ Use the action selector or the dedicated buttons to switch between Format (pretty-print) and Minify (compact output). Format mode optimizes indentation and line breaks; Minify mode removes comments and collapses whitespace only between tags.

3. Adjust indentation settings (optional)

📏 In Format mode, pick your preferred indent size (1–8) and choose spaces or tabs. These options control how nested elements are displayed. Minify mode ignores indentation and focuses on compact output.

4. Copy or download the result

📤 Review the formatted or minified XML, then copy it back into your project or save it as a cleaned-up file for deployment, CI or debugging.

Technical Specifications

Formatting & Minification Behavior

The tool delegates work to a dedicated XML formatter/minifier adapter that understands XML structure and exposes two modes: <code>format</code> and <code>minify</code>.

Mode	Operation	Details
Format	Pretty-print	Normalizes indentation, line breaks and element nesting for readability
Format	Indent control	Uses indent size (1–8) and style (spaces or tabs) from the UI options
Minify	Remove comments	Strips <code><!-- ... --></code> comment nodes from the XML tree
Minify	Collapse whitespace between tags	Rewrites <code>> <</code> into <code>><</code> without touching text or CDATA
Both	Preserve CDATA	CDATA sections are left as-is to avoid changing content semantics
Both	Preserve PIs & namespaces	Processing instructions and namespace declarations are preserved

Indentation & Line Length Options

Formatting respects your indentation preferences and optional wrapping behavior.

Option	Range / Values	Effect
Indent size	1–8	Number of spaces per level when indent style is set to spaces
Indent style	space / tab	Choose between spaces or hard tabs for indentation
Wrap / line length	0–120	Optional wrapping guidance in Format mode (0 = no enforced wrap)
End of line	LF / CRLF	Controls line endings for the generated output text

Supported Input & Limits

The formatter/minifier is tuned for interactive use on typical XML payloads.

Parameter	Limit / Behavior	Notes
File extensions	.xml, .xsl, .xslt, .xsd, .wsdl, .plist	Matches the tool’s configured file types
MIME types	application/xml, text/xml	Common XML content-types are recognized
Max input size (UI)	≈ 2 MB / ~2,000,000 characters	Very large documents should be processed via CLI tools
Timeout	~25 seconds per run	Prevents hangs on pathological or extremely large inputs

Command Line Alternatives for XML Formatting & Minification

For very large XML files or CI pipelines, you can combine classic XML tools (xmllint, xmlstarlet) with simple shell commands to approximate the same behavior.

Linux / 🍎 macOS

Pretty-print XML with xmllint

xmllint --format input.xml > pretty.xml

Formats XML with consistent indentation and line breaks for human-readable output.

Minify XML by removing indentation-only whitespace

xmllint --noblanks input.xml | sed -E ':a;N;$!ba;s/>[\t\r\n ]+</></g' > minified.xml

Drops blank text nodes and collapses whitespace strictly between tags.

Use xmlstarlet to format then compact

xmlstarlet fo -s 2 input.xml | sed -E ':a;N;$!ba;s/>[\t\r\n ]+</></g' > minified.xml

First normalizes formatting, then collapses inter-tag gaps for a compact result.

Windows (PowerShell)

Collapse whitespace between tags in XML

Get-Content input.xml -Raw | ForEach-Object { $_ -replace ">\s+<", "><" } | Set-Content minified.xml

Targets only whitespace sequences between closing and opening tags.

Practical Use Cases

Web & Mobile Assets (SVG, Android XML, sitemaps)

Reduce size and improve readability of XML assets used in frontends and mobile apps.

Minify SVG icons and illustrations before bundling or serving via CDN.
Compact Android layout XML to reduce APK size alongside gzip/brotli.
Format large sitemap.xml or feeds before debugging or reviewing them.

Backend Services & Config Files

Clean up configuration and integration XML used in services and pipelines.

Pretty-print SOAP envelopes to debug integration issues.
Minify config XML before storing or transferring across services.
Normalize indentation in shared XSD/XSLT libraries for easier reviews.

Teaching, Diffs & Code Reviews

Use the formatter/minifier to make XML easier to understand and compare.

Show students the difference between raw XML and well-structured documents.
Reduce noisy whitespace differences in version control before reviewing changes.
Generate clean XML examples for documentation and tutorials.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

❓Will minifying XML change the data or structure?

Under the default behavior, minification removes comments and collapses whitespace strictly between tags. It does not alter element names, attributes, CDATA sections, namespaces or processing instructions. As with any transformation, you should still verify critical payloads in your test environment.

📏When is whitespace safe to remove in XML?

Whitespace is usually safe to remove when it is only used for indentation between elements. In mixed-content documents (text and child elements in the same node) or when xml:space="preserve" is used, whitespace may be significant. The underlying adapter is designed to collapse only inter-tag whitespace and to preserve actual text and CDATA content.

🧾What is the difference between Format and Minify modes?

Format focuses on readability: it adds line breaks and indentation so the XML tree is easy to scan and review. Minify focuses on size: it removes comments and unnecessary whitespace between tags to produce a compact representation suitable for transport or storage.

🔒Is my XML uploaded to a server?

The tool runs XML processing through a client-side adapter. In most cases, work happens directly in your browser. As a general best practice, avoid pasting extremely sensitive documents or secrets into any online tool and prefer local/CI workflows for highly confidential data.

⚙️Can I integrate similar XML formatting in my CI pipeline?

Yes. For automated workflows, use xmllint or xmlstarlet with the CLI examples above, or integrate your own XML tooling to format and compact files on each build. This keeps your repositories readable while serving compact artifacts in production.

Pro Tips

Performance Tip

Keep a nicely formatted XML version in your repository and use the minified output only for deployment or transport.

CI Tip

Add XML formatting or minification steps to your CI pipeline so all XML assets stay consistent across branches and environments.

Security Tip

Avoid pasting documents with credentials, tokens or highly confidential data into online tools; use local CLI-based workflows for sensitive XML.

Best Practice

For SVG assets, visually compare a few key icons before and after minification to ensure that whitespace removal does not affect rendering in edge cases.