CSS Formatter & Beautifier

What is a CSS Formatter?

A CSS formatter is a tool that automatically organizes and beautifies CSS code by applying proper indentation, spacing, and structure. It helps make minified or poorly formatted CSS readable and maintainable by developers, while also providing the ability to minify CSS for production use. This tool is essential for debugging, code reviews, and maintaining clean stylesheets.

How to Use This Tool

1. Paste your CSS code into the input area on the left, or click "Load Sample" to see an example
2. Choose your preferred indentation style (2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs) from the settings
3. Toggle "Preserve comments" if you want to keep CSS comments in the output
4. Click "Format & Beautify" to organize your CSS with proper indentation and spacing
5. Click "Minify" to compress your CSS by removing all whitespace for production use
6. Use the "Copy Output" button to copy the formatted result to your clipboard
7. View statistics about your CSS including character count, line count, and file size

Common Use Cases

• Debugging Minified CSS: Make compressed production CSS readable for debugging issues
• Code Review: Ensure consistent CSS formatting across your team and codebase
• Learning CSS: Study properly formatted CSS to understand best practices and structure
• Cleaning Legacy Code: Reorganize old or poorly formatted stylesheets
• Minifying for Production: Compress CSS files to reduce file size and improve page load times
• Preparing for Version Control: Format CSS before committing to maintain consistency

Features

• Syntax Highlighting: Color-coded CSS for better readability
• Customizable Indentation: Choose between 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs
• Comment Preservation: Option to keep or remove CSS comments
• Multiple View Modes: Switch between formatted and minified views
• Copy to Clipboard: One-click copying of formatted output
• Statistics Display: View character count, line count, and file size
• Client-side Processing: All formatting happens in your browser - your code stays private
• Auto-fix Common Issues: Prettier automatically fixes many CSS syntax issues

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this tool free to use?

Yes! This CSS formatter is completely free to use with no registration required. There are no limits on usage or file size.

Is my code secure?

Absolutely. All CSS formatting happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your code never leaves your computer and is never sent to any server. This makes it safe to use with proprietary stylesheets and sensitive designs.

What's the difference between Format and Minify?

Format & Beautify adds indentation, line breaks, and proper spacing to make CSS human-readable. This is ideal for debugging and code reviews. Minify removes all unnecessary whitespace to create the smallest possible file size, which is perfect for production environments where you want to reduce bandwidth and improve page load performance.

Can I use this for large CSS files?

Yes! Since all processing happens in your browser, there's no server-side file size limit. However, very large files (several megabytes) may take a moment to process depending on your computer's performance.

Does this validate CSS?

This tool primarily focuses on formatting and beautifying CSS. While Prettier (the formatting engine) can handle most valid CSS and will report syntax errors, it's not a full CSS validator. For comprehensive CSS validation, consider using the W3C CSS Validation Service alongside this formatter.

Does this work offline?

Once the page is loaded, all formatting functionality works offline. The tool doesn't require an internet connection to format or minify CSS.

Are there keyboard shortcuts available?

Yes! Use Tab to navigate between buttons and text areas, Enter to activate focused buttons, and Escape while focused on text areas to quickly clear content.