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About this XML Formatter Free Online XML Formatter & Minifier

Paste your XML, pick **Format** or **Minify**, and get clean output optimized either for humans or for size. Ideal for sitemaps, SVGs, SOAP responses, Android layouts, WSDL/XSD, plists, and any XML-based config files you need to read, debug or ship to production.

What You Can Do With This XML Formatter

  • Beautify XML with consistent indentation and line breaks for easier reading and code review
  • Minify XML by removing comments and collapsing whitespace strictly between tags
  • Control indentation: choose spaces or tabs and set indent size (1–8) directly from the UI
  • Preserves element content, attributes, CDATA sections, namespaces and processing instructions
  • Works with XML, XSL/XSLT, XSD, WSDL, plist and other XML-based formats used in real projects
  • Great for sitemaps, RSS/Atom feeds, SVG assets, SOAP envelopes, Android layouts and manifests
  • Paste code or drag-and-drop XML files directly into the editor
  • Quickly copy the formatted or minified result back into your editor or repository
  • Runs in your browser via a dedicated XML adapter — no account, no persistent server-side storage

🛠️ How to Format or Minify XML in a Few Seconds for xml-formatter

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1. Paste or Upload Your XML

Drop your XML into the editor or upload a `.xml`, `.xsl`, `.xslt`, `.xsd`, `.wsdl` or `.plist` file. The tool parses the document and prepares it for formatting or minification.

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2. Choose Format or Minify

Use the **Action** selector or the dedicated buttons to switch between **Format** (beautify for readability) and **Minify** (compact for size and transport).

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3. Adjust Indentation Options (Optional)

Pick your preferred **Indent Size** (1–8 spaces) and whether to use spaces or tabs. These settings control how nested elements are displayed when formatting. You can also tune wrap/line length via the internal `printWidth` mapping.

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4. Copy Your Clean XML

Review the output, then copy the formatted or minified XML back into your project, sitemap, test payload or configuration file. Keep a formatted version in Git and ship the minified version to production if needed.

Technical Details

XML Compatibility & Behavior

The formatter/minifier is designed for generic XML and common XML-based formats used in web, mobile and backend systems.

TypeSupportNotes
XML 1.0✅ FullStandard W3C XML documents with namespaces and processing instructions.
RSS / Atom feeds✅ FullUseful for debugging feed structure, dates and content fields.
SVG / vector XML✅ TypicalHandy for optimizing inline SVG and icon assets before embedding.
SOAP / XML-RPC envelopes✅ StructureImproves readability of envelopes and payloads during debugging.
Config / Android XML / plist✅ CommonLayouts, manifests, plists and config-style XML files.
The tool expects well-formed XML. If the document is malformed (unclosed tags, invalid nesting, mismatched names), the parser will throw an error instead of trying to guess the intended structure.

Formatting & Minification Modes

Two main modes share the same XML parsing core but apply different transformations on top.

ModeTransformsDetails
FormatPretty-printAdds consistent indentation and line breaks based on element hierarchy.
FormatIndent settingsRespects indent size (1–8) and style (spaces or tabs) from the UI options.
FormatLine length hintUses an internal `printWidth` derived from Wrap / Line Length where applicable.
MinifyRemove commentsStrips `<!-- ... -->` comment nodes to reduce file size.
MinifyCollapse whitespace between tagsRewrites `> <` into `><` without touching text nodes or CDATA.
BothPreserve CDATA & PIsKeeps `<![CDATA[...]]>` and processing instructions like `<?xml-stylesheet?>` intact.
BothPreserve namespacesDoes not alter prefixes, URIs or namespace declarations on elements and attributes.

Input Limits & Safety

The underlying logic is tuned for interactive use inside a browser tab.

ParameterValueNotes
Max input size≈ 2 MB / ~2,000,000 charactersSame safety limit as the internal formatter logic.
Supported file extensions.xml, .xsl, .xslt, .xsd, .wsdl, .plistMatches the `fileExtensions` list in the tool configuration.
MIME typesapplication/xml, text/xmlTypical content-types for pasted or uploaded XML.
Timeout~25 secondsProtects against extremely large or pathological input via a hard timeout.
EncodingUTF-8 recommendedConvert legacy encodings (ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, etc.) before processing for best results.
For tens or hundreds of megabytes of XML, run tools like xmllint or xmlstarlet locally or in CI/CD instead of relying on an in-browser formatter.

Command Line Alternatives

If you need to format or compact very large XML files in a terminal, script or CI pipeline, use these battle-tested tools.

Linux / 🍎 macOS

Pretty-print XML with xmllint

xmllint --format input.xml > output.xml

Produces human-readable, indented XML using libxml2.

Minify XML by removing indentation-only whitespace

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

Drops blank text nodes and collapses whitespace strictly between tags.

Pretty-print with xmlstarlet

xmlstarlet fo input.xml > output.xml

Fast XML formatter that can be integrated into build and deploy scripts.

Windows (PowerShell)

Collapse whitespace between tags in XML

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

Keeps text and CDATA intact while compressing inter-tag gaps.

Practical Use Cases

Sitemap & SEO XML Cleanup

Make `sitemap.xml` and other crawlable XML easier to review and maintain.

  • Beautify sitemap and feed XML before pushing changes to production.
  • Quickly spot misnested tags, duplicated URLs or missing required elements.
  • Minify sitemaps for faster transfer while keeping a readable version in your repo.

Developer XML Debugging & APIs

Understand machine-generated XML from services, middleware or legacy systems.

  • Format SOAP and XML-RPC responses before inspecting payloads.
  • Clean up CMS-generated XML to track down broken structure or invalid nodes.
  • Minify XML configuration snippets before embedding them into other formats.

Config Files & Infrastructure

Keep infrastructure XML files readable in Git while serving compact artifacts in production.

  • Beautify Android layout XML and manifests before code review.
  • Normalize indentation in shared XSD/XSLT libraries.
  • Create compact XML variants for packaging, OTA updates or deployment pipelines.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

❓What happens if my XML is malformed?

If the XML is not well-formed, the underlying parser will fail and the tool reports an error instead of producing output. Fix structural issues such as unclosed tags, invalid nesting, missing quotes or mismatched element names, then run the formatter again.

📏When is it safe to remove whitespace in XML?

Whitespace is usually safe to remove when it is only used for indentation between elements. In mixed-content documents (where text and child elements are mixed in the same node) or when `xml:space="preserve"` is used, whitespace can be significant. This tool focuses on collapsing whitespace strictly between tags and preserving text and CDATA content.

🧼Does the XML minifier remove comments?

Yes. In Minify mode, comment nodes (``) are removed to reduce file size and keep only structural and data content. If you need license headers or documentation comments, keep an unminified version in your source repository.

🔒Is my XML sent to a server?

Formatting and minification are handled in your browser via a dedicated XML adapter. As a general best practice, avoid pasting highly confidential data or secrets into online tools and prefer local workflows for very sensitive payloads.

⚙️Can I get the same formatting in my IDE or CI?

Yes. Use tools like xmllint or xmlstarlet, or IDE plugins that pretty-print XML as part of your local workflow, and run them in your CI pipeline to keep XML assets consistently formatted across branches and environments.

Pro Tips

Performance Tip

Keep a readable, formatted XML version in your repository and use the minified version only for production builds or transport.

CI Tip

Add XML formatting or minification steps to your CI pipeline to enforce a consistent style across all branches and environments.

Security Tip

For documents containing credentials, tokens or confidential business data, run XML formatting and minification locally with CLI tools instead of online.

Best Practice

When working with SVG, test a few key icons or illustrations visually after minification to confirm that whitespace changes do not affect rendering.

Additional Resources

W3C XML 1.0 Specification
Technical specification
XML Namespaces Specification
Technical specification
xmllint Documentation (libxml2)
Documentation
MDN Web Docs: XML Introduction
Reference

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