What's the difference between formatting and minifying?

Formatting adds indentation and line breaks to make HTML readable and maintainable. Minifying removes whitespace and unnecessary characters to reduce file size for production. Use formatting for development, minifying for production deployment.

Will formatting change my HTML functionality?

Formatting should not change HTML functionality—it only adds indentation and line breaks. However, if you have inline JavaScript or CSS that's sensitive to whitespace, formatting could potentially affect it. Always test formatted HTML to ensure it works correctly.

Can I customize the indentation style?

You can choose indentation size (2, 4, or 8 spaces), but the formatting style (spaces vs tabs, bracket placement) is fixed. The tool uses standard HTML formatting conventions. For custom formatting rules, use specialized HTML formatters or code editors.

Will minifying break my HTML?

Minifying should not break valid HTML—it only removes whitespace and unnecessary characters. However, if your HTML relies on specific whitespace (rare), minification could affect it. Always test minified HTML to ensure it works correctly. Minification is safe for most standard HTML.

Can I format HTML with embedded PHP or server-side code?

Formatting may work with embedded server-side code, but it's not guaranteed. Server-side syntax (PHP, ASP, etc.) may not format correctly and could break syntax. For HTML with server-side code, format carefully and test thoroughly, or format only the HTML portions.

Does the formatter preserve inline JavaScript and CSS?

Yes. The formatter preserves content within and tags without modifying the JavaScript or CSS code inside. It only formats the HTML structure (indentation, tag spacing). For dedicated CSS or JavaScript formatting, use our CSS Formatter or consider a JavaScript beautifier.

Can I format partial HTML (not a complete document)?

Yes. The tool works with both complete HTML documents and partial HTML snippets. You can paste a single block, a table structure, or any HTML fragment and it will be properly formatted. There is no requirement for a , , or wrapper.

What indentation options are available?

The formatter supports 2 spaces, 4 spaces, and tabs for indentation. The default is 2 spaces, which is the most common convention in modern web development. You can switch between options and the output updates immediately. The tool also includes a minify mode that removes all whitespace for production use.

HTML Formatter - Beautify & Minify Free

When to Use This Tool

Use this when:

You have messy or unformatted HTML code and need to clean it up for readability
You want to minify HTML code to reduce file size for production deployment
You're debugging HTML issues and need properly formatted code to identify problems
You're learning HTML and want to see well-formatted code structure
You need to standardize HTML formatting across multiple files or projects
You want to improve code readability by adding proper indentation and line breaks
You're preparing HTML for code review or collaboration and need clean formatting

Don't use this if:

You need to preserve exact whitespace or formatting (formatting changes whitespace)
You're working with HTML that has inline JavaScript or CSS that must remain on one line
You need to format very large HTML files (over 1MB may process slowly)
You require specific formatting rules or custom indentation styles (tool uses standard formatting)
You want to format HTML with embedded templates or server-side code (may break syntax)

What is an HTML Formatter?

An HTML formatter (also called an HTML beautifier or HTML prettifier) takes messy, minified, or poorly indented HTML code and reformats it with proper indentation, consistent spacing, and readable structure. Our tool processes everything in your browser — your code is never sent to any server.

HTML formatting is essential for code readability and maintenance: fixing auto-generated HTML from CMS platforms, cleaning up minified production code for debugging, standardizing indentation across team projects, and making copy-pasted HTML snippets readable.

This tool is essential for front-end developers debugging and reviewing HTML code, web designers cleaning up CMS-generated markup, full-stack developers working with template engines, QA engineers inspecting page source code, and students learning HTML who need to understand code structure.

Compared to IDE auto-formatters (which require specific editor setup and configuration), command-line tools like prettier (which require Node.js installation), or online formatters that may store your code, PureXio's HTML formatter provides instant formatting with configurable options.

The tool supports customizable indentation (2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs), preserves content within pre and code tags, handles inline elements appropriately, supports HTML5 syntax, and includes a minify mode to compress formatted HTML back to a single line. Syntax highlighting makes the formatted output easy to read and review.

Best for: beautifying and formatting HTML code. Configurable indentation, syntax highlighting, minify mode. Handles complex nested structures. Fully private.

How to Format HTML

Paste your HTML code into the input field. Code can be minified, unformatted, or already formatted

Choose formatting option: 'Format HTML' to beautify with indentation, or 'Minify HTML' to compress. Set indent size (2, 4, or 8 spaces) for formatting

Review formatted or minified HTML. Copy the result to clipboard. Formatted HTML has proper indentation and line breaks; minified HTML is compressed for smaller file size

Common Use Cases

Format messy HTML from web scrapers or code generators for better readability

Minify HTML files for production to reduce file size and improve load times

Clean up HTML code before code review or collaboration with team members

Format HTML templates or email templates for easier editing and maintenance

Prepare HTML code for documentation or tutorials with proper formatting

Standardize HTML formatting across multiple files in a project

Debug HTML structure issues by viewing properly formatted code

Features

Format HTML code with proper indentation and line breaks for readability

Minify HTML code to reduce file size by removing whitespace and unnecessary characters

Customizable indentation size (2, 4, or 8 spaces) for formatting

Preserves HTML structure and content while improving formatting

Handles nested elements, attributes, and complex HTML structures

One-click copy formatted or minified HTML to clipboard

100% private—all processing happens in your browser

Limitations & Constraints

Very large HTML files (over 1MB) may process slowly—consider splitting into smaller sections

Formatting may change whitespace—exact whitespace preservation is not guaranteed

Inline JavaScript or CSS within HTML may be reformatted (could break if syntax is sensitive)

Server-side template syntax (PHP, ASP, etc.) may not format correctly

Some HTML minification may remove comments or whitespace that you want to keep

Troubleshooting

Formatting fails or shows error

Solution: Check that HTML is valid—malformed HTML may cause formatting errors. Ensure all tags are properly closed and syntax is correct. Try fixing HTML errors first, then format. Some edge cases or unusual HTML structures may not format correctly. Prevention: Validate HTML before formatting if you encounter errors.

Formatted HTML looks wrong or structure is broken

Solution: Formatting preserves HTML structure but may change indentation. If structure looks wrong, check original HTML for errors. Nested elements should format correctly. If formatting breaks functionality, try different indent size or check for HTML syntax errors. Prevention: Test formatted HTML to ensure it still works correctly.

Minified HTML is too compressed or hard to read

Solution: Minification removes whitespace and compresses code—this is intentional for file size reduction. If you need readable code, use 'Format HTML' instead of 'Minify HTML'. Minification is for production use, formatting is for development. Prevention: Use formatting for development, minification for production.

Processing is slow for large HTML files

Solution: Very large HTML files (over 1MB) may process slowly. Split HTML into smaller sections and format separately, or wait for processing to complete. Close other browser tabs to free up resources. For extremely large files, use desktop HTML formatters. Prevention: Format HTML in smaller sections if files are very large.

Inline JavaScript or CSS breaks after formatting

Solution: Formatting may add line breaks to inline JavaScript or CSS, which could break syntax if code is sensitive to whitespace. Check formatted HTML to ensure inline code still works. If issues occur, format HTML without inline code, or use external JavaScript/CSS files. Prevention: Be aware that formatting may affect inline code—test after formatting.