What does this formatter do?
It parses your XML using the browser's built-in XML parser (so malformed XML is caught immediately), then re-indents it with 2 spaces per nesting level. Leaf elements containing only text stay on one line; elements with child elements break onto their own lines.
Why validate before formatting?
XML is stricter than HTML — every tag must be properly closed, attribute values must be quoted, and there can only be one root element. Catching a malformed document here, with a clear parser error, is faster than debugging a cryptic failure downstream in whatever consumes the XML.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my XML fail to parse?
The most common causes are an unclosed tag, mismatched opening/closing tags, unquoted attribute values, or more than one root element. XML (unlike HTML) requires every tag to be explicitly closed, including self-closing tags like <br/>.
Does this validate against a schema (XSD/DTD)?
No — this only checks that the XML is well-formed (correct syntax), not that it matches a specific schema's structure. Schema validation requires the actual XSD or DTD file and a dedicated validator.
Is my XML uploaded when I use this tool?
No. Parsing and formatting happen instantly in your browser using the native DOMParser — nothing is sent to a server.