CSS Formatter
Paste your CSS below to beautify it with proper indentation and line breaks, or minify it for production.
How to Use
- Paste your CSS into the input area on the left.
- Select your preferred indentation size.
- Click "Format" to beautify or "Minify" to compress.
- Click "Copy" to copy the formatted result to your clipboard.
Features
- Formats CSS with proper indentation and line breaks
- Configurable indentation: 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs
- One-click minification to remove whitespace and comments
- Handles nested rules, media queries, and keyframes
- Works entirely in your browser - no data sent to servers
- Mobile-friendly responsive interface
Why Use a CSS Formatter
CSS files tend to grow quickly as projects evolve, and inconsistent formatting can make stylesheets confusing and difficult to maintain. When declarations are crammed together, missing line breaks between rules, or using mixed indentation styles, finding and updating specific styles becomes time-consuming. A CSS formatter applies a consistent structure to your code, placing each property on its own line with proper indentation so you can scan and modify styles efficiently.
This tool is especially helpful when inheriting CSS from other developers, third-party themes, or browser developer tools. CSS copied from an inspector is often compressed or oddly formatted, and running it through a formatter makes it immediately readable. Teams that enforce coding standards benefit from using a formatter to normalize style before code reviews, reducing nitpick comments about whitespace and letting reviewers focus on the actual CSS logic.
The minification feature is equally valuable for production deployment. Minified CSS removes all comments, extra whitespace, and line breaks, resulting in smaller file sizes that load faster in the browser. Many build pipelines include CSS minification as a step, but this tool lets you quickly minify a stylesheet without setting up a build process. All formatting and minification runs locally in your browser, ensuring that proprietary styles and design tokens stay private.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the formatter handle CSS preprocessor syntax like SCSS or Less?
This formatter is designed for standard CSS. While it may correctly format some SCSS or Less features that overlap with CSS syntax (like nested media queries), it does not fully support preprocessor-specific features such as variables with $ or @ prefixes, mixins, or extend directives. For those, a dedicated SCSS or Less formatter would be more reliable.
Will the formatter change my CSS property values?
No, the formatter only modifies whitespace, indentation, and line breaks. Your selectors, properties, values, and comments are preserved exactly as written. The tool does not reorder properties, merge duplicate rules, or make any changes that would affect how the CSS is applied to your pages.
Does minification remove CSS comments?
Yes, the minification process removes all CSS comments along with unnecessary whitespace and line breaks. Comments are intended for developer readability and are not needed in production. If you have comments you want to preserve, keep a copy of the formatted version before minifying.
Can I format CSS with media queries and keyframe animations?
Yes, the formatter correctly handles nested at-rules including media queries, keyframe animations, font-face declarations, and supports rules. Each nested block receives its own level of indentation, making the hierarchy of your responsive styles and animations easy to follow in the formatted output.