How to reformat JSON in Notepad++?

Question

I need Notepad++ to take a json string from this

{"menu": {"id": "file","value": "File","popup": {"menuitem": [{"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},{"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},{"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}]}}}

to this...

{"menu": {
  "id": "file",
  "value": "File",
  "popup": {
    "menuitem": [
      {"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},
      {"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},
      {"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}
    ]
  }
}}

I looked around at all the TextFX options but couldn't find anything that worked.

Answer 1

Update:

As of Notepad++ v7.6, use Plugin Admin to install JSTool per this answer

INSTALL

Download it from http://sourceforge.net/projects/jsminnpp/ and copy JSMinNpp.dll to plugin directory of Notepad++. Or you can just install "JSTool" from Plugin Manager in Notepad++.

New Notepad++ install and where did PluginManager go? See How to view Plugin Manager in Notepad++

{
  "menu" : {
    "id" : "file",
    "value" : "File",
    "popup" : {
      "menuitem" : [{
      "value" : "New",
          "onclick" : "CreateNewDoc()"
        }, {
          "value" : "Open",
          "onclick" : "OpenDoc()"
        }, {
          "value" : "Close",
          "onclick" : "CloseDoc()"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Tip: Select the code you want to reformat, then Plugins | JSTool | JSFormat.

Answer 2

For Notepad++ v.7.6 and above Plugins Admin... is available.

1. Open Menu Plugins > Plugins Admin...

2. Search JSON Viewer

3. Check JSON Viewer in List

4. Click on Install Button

5. Restart Notepad++

6. Select JSON text

7. Go to Plugins > JSON Viewer > Format JSON ( Ctrl + Alt + Shift + M )

We can install any Notepad++ supported plugins using Plugins Admin...

Answer 3

You require a plugin to format JSON. To install the plugin do the following steps:

1. Open notepad++ -> ALT+P -> Plugin Manager -> Selcet JSON Viewer -> Click Install
2. Restart notepad++
3. Now you can use shortcut to format json as CTRL + ALT +SHIFT + M or ALT+P -> Plugin Manager -> JSON Viewer -> Format JSON

Answer 4

I personally use JSON Viewer since the Notepad++ plugin doesn't work any more.

EDIT - 24th May 2012

I advise that you download the JSMin plugin for Notepad as mentioned in the answer. This works well for me in the latest version (v6.1.2 at time of writing).

EDIT - 7th November 2017

As per @danday74's comment below, JSMin is now JSToolNpp. Also, please be aware that the JSON Viewer tool is on Codeplex which will likely disappear in the near future.

Given the above, this answer is no longer relevant and you should use Dan H's answer instead. My answer is simply here for posterity.

Answer 5

Universal Indent GUI plugin for Notepad++ will turn your sample into:

{
    "menu" : {
        "id" : "file", "value" : "File", "popup" : {
            "menuitem" : [ {
                "value" : "New", "onclick" : "CreateNewDoc()";
            }
            , {
                "value" : "Open", "onclick" : "OpenDoc()";
            }
            , {
                "value" : "Close", "onclick" : "CloseDoc()";
            }
            ];
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

simply go to this link download the dll copy and paste the dll to the plugins folder at notepad++, \Notepad++\plugins restart the notepad++, and it should be shown in the list

NOTE: this dll supports 64 bit notepade++

Answer 7

It's not an NPP solution, but in a pinch, you can use this online JSON Formatter and then just paste the formatted text into NPP and then select Javascript as the language.

Answer 8

As per the latest notepad++, updated answer. Install JSON Viewer

Open notepad++ go to Plugins --> click Plugins Admin..

In Plugins Admin window search for JSON Viewer and click on Install

New after installing plugin, this is how you can view file in JSON format

Answer 9

JSMinNpp plugin will do this job. https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsminnpp/

Answer 10

If formatting JSON is the main goal and you have VisualStudio then it is simple and easy.

1. Open Visual Studio
2. File -> New -> File
3. Select Web in left side panel
4. Select JSON
5. Copy paste your raw JSON value
6. Press Ctrl + K and Ctrl + D

That's it. you will get formatted JSON Value.

Answer 11

The following Notepad++ plugin worked for me as suggested by "SUN" https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsminnpp/

Answer 12

You can view in Notepad++ no problem now (maybe older versions were bugged?)

for win64: You can find the latest plugin here: https://github.com/kapilratnani/JSON-Viewer/releases . The latest zip file contains a .dll file.

And then follow the github priject README instructions:

1. Paste the file "NPPJSONViewer.dll" to Notepad++ plugin folder
2. open a document containing a JSON string
3. Select JSON fragment and navigate to plugins/JSON Viewer/show JSON Viewer or press "Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J"
4. Voila!! if the JSON is valid, it will be shown in a Treeview

It should be the same process for win32 but I cannot personally verify it.

Answer 13

It worked for me in the latest edition to Notepad using the UniversalIndentGui.

What I did was under the plugin setting choose Enable Text Auto Update, a window popped up and I selected javascript.

Answer 14

Notepad 5.8.7 and jsmin 1.7.0.0 works wonderful here.

Be careful though, found out jsmin eats the comments the hard way (should have read first).

Answer 15

I'm using the JSON Viewer plug-in with NPP 5.9 and it seems to work well.

Answer 16

I know this thread is old but I recently ran into a problem with JSToolNPP not being compatible with my newly updated N++, I did find a replacement that seems to work. http://sourceforge.net/projects/nppjsonviewer/

Use at your own risk, ofc. (standard disclaimer from me when linking anything outside the SExchange, fyi)

Answer 17

If you don't want to install a Notepad++ plugin but you have Firefox and a JSON plugin for Firefox, you can select Run -> Launch in Firefox. You get the contents formatted as JSON using your Firefox plugin.

This is what I personally do.

Answer 18

For those of us behind a corporate firewall with no direct access to the internet, using the Plugins Admin won't work. To use the JSMinNpp plugin, you can't just "copy the dll to the plugins folder". It needs to live inside a folder called "JSMinNpp" inside the plugins folder. After doing that and restarting Notepad++, I was able to see the "JSTool" menu option under the Plugins menu.

Tested with Notepad++ 7.8.2 and 7.8.9.

Answer 19

I use 32-bit Notepad++ version 7.5.6. I have found that 32-bit JSToolNpp 1.20.0 does a great job.
The direct link is:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsminnpp/files/Uni/JSToolNPP.1.2006.0.uni.32.zip/download
which is redirected from https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsminnpp/.
VirusTotal link:
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/008ee0ce889dfd9e96b975cebe6faafe28bc350352e951f3dec97e8e5bec5a07

JSON-Viewer works fine too, but cannot sort the JSON data.

Answer 20

Steps to add JSON viewer plugin for notepad++:

1. Download JSON viewer plugin for notepad++ from sourceforge.
2. Copy NPPJSONViewer.dll into Notepad++\plugins\NPPJSONViewer folder
3. restart the notepad++
4. select JSON and click on plugins > JSON Viewer > Format JSON (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+M).
5. Done.

Answer 21

You can use http://www.jsonlint.com/ to edit your json online if you don't have Notepad++.

Answer 22

I know you asked about NotePad++ but TextMate for OS X can do it via the JSON bundle, its called the "Reformat Document" command.

Answer 23

Your best bet is to use one of the latest versions of Eclipse (I am using Eclipse Galileo J2EE and Eclipse Ganymede J2EE). Create a JavaScript file, then create a variable:

var jsonObject = {"menu": {"id": "file","value": "File","popup": {"menuitem": [{"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},{"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},{"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}]}}};

Lastly, hit CTRL+SHIFT+F and voila! You have a nicely indented JSON Object. I, too, am looking for a Notepad++ JSON formatter, and I very well may be forced to develop an Npp plugin some short time in the future.