Getting started

Prettify is a viewer and editor for structured data. It handles JSON, YAML, CSV, XML, Mermaid, Markdown, MDX, HTML, and SVG. It runs as a web app and as a desktop app. This page shows how to open the editor, load a document, and find each feature.

Prettify works on your device. Parsing, editing, queries, and conversion run in the browser. Your documents are not uploaded, except when you create a Pro short share link.

Open the editor

On the web, open the editor. From the home page, select Open app.

On the desktop app, the editor opens when you launch Prettify. See Desktop app.

The Dashboard is the start page. It lists your recent documents and a card for each format. See Tabs and the Dashboard.

Load a document

You can load a document in five ways.

Paste

1. Focus the editor.
2. Press Cmd+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows, Linux).
3. The Paste dialog opens and reads your clipboard.

Prettify detects the format and shows the document. If clipboard access is blocked, paste inside the dialog.

You can also select Paste from clipboard on the Dashboard.

Open a file

1. Select Open file on the Dashboard.
2. Choose a file.

On the desktop app, use the File menu or press Cmd+O (Mac) or Ctrl+O (Windows, Linux).

Prettify picks the format from the file extension.

Drop a file

Drag a file onto the editor or the Dashboard. Prettify opens it in the editor.

Load from URL

1. Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows, Linux) to open the Command Palette.
2. Select Fetch URL.
3. Enter the address and confirm.

The response limit is 100 MB. On the web, if the site blocks the request, Prettify asks to use a public proxy before it sends the address. On the desktop app, the request runs locally and refuses private addresses.

Refresh from URL re-fetches the same address. Refresh from URL is Pro.

Example files

Each format has a built-in example. On the Dashboard, select Example under a format card. Use an example to see the views and tools before you load your own data.

Format detection

Prettify detects the format from the content and the file extension. It recognizes JSON, JSONL, YAML, CSV and TSV, XML, Mermaid, Markdown, MDX, HTML, and SVG.

JSONL (JSON Lines, also called NDJSON) is detected and shown as JSON. See JSONL.

You can change the format from the sidebar or the Command Palette if the detection is wrong.

First steps per format

Format	Common first view	Guide
JSON	Tree	JSON
YAML	Tree	YAML
CSV	Table	CSV
XML	Tree	XML
Mermaid	Preview	Mermaid
Markdown	Preview	Markdown
MDX	Preview	MDX
HTML	Preview	HTML
SVG	Image	SVG

Free and Pro

Most features are free. These include the Tree, Raw, and Table views, syntax highlighting, validation, Search and Replace, format conversion, Load from URL, unlimited tabs, and share links up to about 32 KB.

Pro unlocks the query engines (jq, SQL, XPath), JSON Schema validation, the Diagram view, multi-column charts, the Feed view, Diff, Split view, and full History. Pro is a one-time purchase. See Pro.

More guides

Views and display: Views, Diagram view, Chart view, Split view.

Query and transform: jq, SQL, XPath, Transforms, Type generation, JSON Schema.

Work with data: Search and Replace, Conversion, Diff, Tabs, History, Sharing.

Formats: JSON, JSONL, YAML, CSV, XML, RSS and Atom feeds, Mermaid, Markdown, MDX, HTML, SVG.

Reference: Keyboard shortcuts, Desktop app, Privacy, Pro, Troubleshooting.