HTML Formatter
About the HTML Formatter
Formatting and beautifying are often used interchangeably, but I think of them as slightly different operations. Beautifying maximizes readability for debugging. Formatting applies a consistent style guide — specific indent sizes, attribute ordering, line length limits — so the output matches your team's coding standards.
This tool is what I use when onboarding a new project. I paste in the existing HTML, format it with the project's conventions (2 spaces? 4 spaces? tabs?), and get a baseline that the whole team can agree on. It eliminates style debates and lets reviewers focus on logic, not formatting.
Features
- Style-guide formatting — enforces consistent indentation throughout
- Configurable indent width — 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tab characters
- Line length awareness — optionally wrap long attribute lists
- Attribute preservation — all attributes kept, values unchanged
- Preserves special blocks —
<script>,<style>,<pre>left untouched - Instant browser-side processing — no uploads, no waiting
Formatter vs. Beautifier: Which Should You Use?
Use the formatter when you want output that conforms to a specific style convention — particularly useful for teams with a linting or formatting standard (like Prettier or EditorConfig). Use the beautifier when you just want readable code fast, without worrying about exact convention adherence. Both produce clean, indented HTML — the formatter just gives you more control over the exact style.
For most solo projects, the beautifier is faster. For team projects, the formatter is the right choice because it produces deterministic output — the same input always produces the same formatted output, regardless of who runs it.