HTML Formatter
Beautify and format HTML markup with proper indentation. Free online HTML formatter.
Why Format HTML?
Well-formatted HTML is easier to read, review in pull requests, and debug. Consistent indentation makes the document hierarchy immediately visible — you can see at a glance which elements are children of which parents.
Formatted HTML is also required by some linting tools and code style guides that enforce consistent whitespace rules across a codebase.
Block vs Inline Elements
HTML formatters treat block elements (div, p, section, header) differently from inline elements (span, a, strong, em). Block elements get their own lines with indentation. Inline elements stay on the same line as surrounding text.
This distinction is important for correctness: adding newlines around inline elements can introduce unwanted whitespace in rendered output.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does HTML formatting do?
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HTML formatting adds consistent indentation and line breaks to make markup readable. Each nested element is indented by two spaces relative to its parent.
Does formatting change how the page renders?
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No. Adding whitespace between HTML tags has no visual effect on rendered pages. Block elements ignore whitespace, and inline elements only care about whitespace between themselves.