How to pretty-print a JSON object with JavaScript

In this article, you'll learn how to use the JSON.stringify() method to pretty-print a JSON object in JavaScript.

The JSON.stringify() method accepts up to three parameters: the JSON object, a replacer, and space. Only the JSON object is required. The remaining two parameters are optional.

To improve the JSON string readability, pass a number as the 3rd argument representing the total white spaces to insert. The white space count must be between 0 and 10:

const obj = {
  name: 'Atta',
  profession: 'Software Engineer',
  country: 'PK',
  skills: ['Java', 'Spring Boot', 'Node.js', 'JavaScript']
}

// serialize JSON object
const str = JSON.stringify(obj, null, 4)

// print JSON string
console.log(str)

The above example will serialize the JSON object to the following string:

{
    "name": "Atta",
    "profession": "Software Engineer",
    "country": "PK",
    "skills": [
        "Java",
        "Spring Boot",
        "Node.js",
        "JavaScript"
    ]
}

As you can see above, the serialized JSON string is formatted and more human-readable.

Here is what the output JSON string looks like when you omit the space parameter:

{"name":"Atta","profession":"Software Engineer","country":"PK","skills":["Java","Spring Boot","Node.js","JavaScript"]}

Read this guide to learn more about JSON data parsing and serialization in JavaScript.

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