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How to use CSS Formatter

Get the best out of CSS Formatter: every option explained, a worked example, and what to check when the output is not what you expected.

Updated July 31, 2026

What it does

Beautify minified CSS code with proper indentation, line breaks, and block separation. It runs entirely in your browser — your input never leaves your device.

Options

Every setting this tool exposes, straight from the code that validates it.

OptionTypeDefaultWhat it does
csstextCSS to beautify. Required.
indentone of: tab or whole number2How many spaces to indent each nested level. tab uses a tab character instead. Accepts 1–8. Defaults to 2.

Worked example

Run these settings on the tool page:

  • css: a{color:red}
  • indent: 2

You get:

a {
  color:red
}

Getting the result you want

Most of the control here is in the options above. If the output is not what you expected, the setting to check first is indent — those change the shape of the output rather than the input it accepts.

Troubleshooting

  • Nothing happens / the output stays empty. css is required — the tool waits until you provide it.
  • A value is rejected. indent accepts 1–8. Anything outside that is refused rather than silently clamped.
  • It is slow on very large input. Everything runs in your browser, so speed depends on your device. Very large inputs are best split up, or run through the API where the work happens on our servers.

Automating it

The same logic is available as a REST endpoint, so you can run it from a script, a CI job or your own app.

Bash
curl "https://api.toolsxpo.com/v1/css-formatter" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLSXPO_KEY"

It costs 1 credit per successful call. See the full endpoint reference, or try it in the playground.

Tools covered here

CSS Formatter

Utilities

utilities

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