What does this XML formatter do?

It pretty-prints XML with configurable indentation (2 or 4 spaces, tabs), minifies XML by removing whitespace, and validates syntax by parsing with the browser's DOMParser.

Does it validate XML against a schema (XSD)?

No, this tool validates well-formedness (correct nesting, matching tags, proper attributes) but does not validate against XSD or DTD schemas.

XML Formatter — Format and Validate XML

Mode

Indent

Examples:

XML input✓ Valid XML

Formatted output

What is XML?

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a markup language for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It is widely used for configuration files (Maven pom.xml, Android layouts), data interchange (SOAP, RSS, Atom feeds), and document formats (SVG, XHTML, Office Open XML).

XML vs JSON — When to Use Each

Use XML when you need: document structure with mixed content, namespaces, schema validation (XSD), XSLT transformations, or SOAP web services.

Use JSON when you need: lightweight data interchange, REST APIs, JavaScript-native parsing, or simpler key-value structures.

Common XML Formatting Rules

Every opening tag must have a matching closing tag (or be self-closing)
Tags are case-sensitive — <Name> and <name> are different elements
Attribute values must be quoted (single or double quotes)
Special characters must be escaped: < > & " '
A well-formed document has exactly one root element

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