HTML/CSS/JS Beautifier

How to use HTML/CSS/JS Beautifier

1. •Select the language — HTML, CSS, or JavaScript — using the tabs or dropdown.
2. •Paste your code into the input editor. This can be minified production code, poorly formatted source, or any valid code in the selected language.
3. •Choose the operation: Beautify (format and indent) or Minify (remove whitespace and compress).
4. •Configure formatting options such as indent size (2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs) and other style preferences.
5. •Copy the formatted output from the output panel.

What is code beautification and minification?

Code beautification (also called pretty-printing or formatting) is the process of adding consistent indentation, line breaks, and spacing to source code to make it human-readable. Minification is the reverse: removing all unnecessary whitespace, comments, and formatting to produce the smallest possible file for production deployment.

Both processes preserve the semantic meaning of the code — the browser or interpreter executes beautified and minified versions identically. The difference is the audience: beautified code is for humans to read and maintain; minified code is for machines to download efficiently.

This tool uses the js-beautify library, a mature and widely-used formatter that handles HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. For HTML, it properly indents nested elements, normalizes attribute spacing, and handles inline elements differently from block elements. For CSS, it formats property declarations, aligns selectors, and handles media queries and nesting. For JavaScript, it restores proper indentation, places braces consistently, and handles complex expressions like ternary operators and arrow functions.

Minification for production is typically handled by build tools (webpack, esbuild, Terser), but this tool is useful for quick one-off minification when you need to inline a script or style and want it as small as possible. It is also invaluable when you need to read minified production code — for debugging a live issue, reviewing a third-party script, or understanding obfuscated code.

Common use cases

• •Debugging minified code: Paste minified production JavaScript to restore readable formatting when debugging a live site issue.
• •Cleaning up generated code: Format HTML or CSS exported by design tools, CMS platforms, or WYSIWYG editors into clean, maintainable code.
• •Code review: Reformat inconsistently styled code to a uniform style for easier review and comparison.
• •Quick minification: Minify a small CSS or JS snippet for inline embedding in an HTML document or email template.
• •Learning: Beautify complex one-liners or minified examples from tutorials to understand their structure.

FAQ

Q: Does beautification change how the code works? A: No. Beautification only adds or adjusts whitespace and line breaks. The functional behavior of the code is unchanged. The only exception is that removing comments during minification removes any side-effect-bearing comments like /*! license */ annotations.

Q: What is the difference between this and Prettier? A: Prettier is an opinionated formatter designed for use in development workflows with strict rules. js-beautify (used by this tool) is more configurable and designed for general-purpose formatting, including the ability to beautify minified code from unknown sources.

Q: Can it handle TypeScript or SCSS? A: This tool is designed for standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. TypeScript and SCSS have additional syntax that may not be formatted correctly. Use dedicated formatters for those languages.

Is my data safe?

Yes. This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data is never sent to our servers.