Tinker Tools

SQL Formatter Online

Beautify and format SQL queries with proper indentation and keyword casing. All processing is done locally in your browser—your queries never leave your device.

Input SQL0 chars
Formatted Output

How it works

1. Paste Your SQL

Paste any SQL query into the input panel — SELECT statements, JOINs, subqueries, DDL, or stored procedures. The tool accepts queries of any complexity.

Local Processing

2. Configure Options

Select your SQL dialect, indentation width, and keyword casing. The formatter adapts its rules to match the specific syntax of your database engine.

Instant Results

3. Copy Formatted SQL

Review the beautified output with proper indentation and line breaks, then copy it to your clipboard with one click. Paste directly into your IDE or query editor.

One-Click Copy

What is SQL Formatting?

SQL formatting is the process of restructuring raw or compressed SQL queries into a human-readable layout with consistent indentation, line breaks, and keyword casing. A well-formatted query separates each clause — SELECT, FROM, WHERE, JOIN, GROUP BY, ORDER BY — onto its own line and indents subqueries and expressions logically. This makes it dramatically easier to read, debug, and review queries that might otherwise be a single run-on line of hundreds of characters.

Most SQL editors and database tools return query results but do little to help you maintain readable source code. When you pull a query from a log file, a migration script, or an ORM's debug output, it often arrives as a dense blob. A SQL formatter parses the query's structure — identifying keywords, identifiers, operators, literals, and parenthesized groups — and then reconstructs it with your preferred whitespace rules. The result is semantically identical but visually clear.

Online SQL formatters run entirely in the browser. This matters when your queries contain production table names, column names with business logic, or even literal values from sensitive datasets. Nothing gets uploaded. The formatting library parses your SQL into an abstract syntax tree, applies indentation and casing rules, and serializes it back to a string — all in JavaScript, all on your machine.

Key Features and Benefits

  • Multi-Dialect Support — Different databases use different SQL syntax extensions. MySQL has backtick-quoted identifiers and LIMIT syntax. PostgreSQL has dollar-quoted strings and RETURNING clauses. BigQuery uses backtick-quoted table references and STRUCT types. The formatter recognizes dialect-specific syntax so it doesn't break your query by treating a valid keyword as an identifier or vice versa.
  • Configurable Indentation — Choose between 2-space and 4-space indentation to match your team's style guide. Consistent indentation across all team members' queries makes code reviews faster and diffs cleaner. The formatter applies the same indent level to every subquery, CASE expression, and nested function call.
  • Keyword Case Normalization — SQL is case-insensitive for keywords, but conventions vary. Some teams prefer uppercase SELECT, FROM, WHERE to visually distinguish reserved words from identifiers. Others keep everything lowercase. The formatter can convert all keywords to uppercase while preserving the original case of your table names, column names, and aliases.
  • Multi-Statement Handling — Production SQL scripts often contain dozens of statements separated by semicolons — CREATE TABLE, INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE. The formatter handles each statement independently and inserts configurable blank lines between them, so your migration files and seed scripts stay organized.
  • Client-Side Processing — Your SQL queries stay in the browser tab. Nothing is transmitted to a server. This is critical when working with queries that reference production schemas, contain WHERE clauses with real user IDs, or include commented-out credentials. The entire format operation runs locally via JavaScript.
  • Subquery and CTE Formatting — Common Table Expressions (WITH clauses) and nested subqueries are properly indented as blocks. Each CTE gets its own indented section, and subqueries inside IN(), EXISTS(), or FROM clauses are formatted recursively so you can trace the logic without manually counting parentheses.

How to Format SQL Online

  1. 1

    Paste Your SQL Query

    Copy your raw SQL from your IDE, database client, log file, or ORM debug output and paste it into the input panel. The tool accepts everything from simple SELECT statements to complex multi-statement scripts with CTEs, window functions, and stored procedures.

  2. 2

    Select Your SQL Dialect

    Choose the database engine your query targets: Standard SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, or BigQuery. This ensures the formatter recognizes dialect-specific keywords and syntax without breaking your query. If unsure, Standard SQL works as a safe default for most queries.

  3. 3

    Configure Formatting Options

    Set your preferred indentation width (2 or 4 spaces), toggle uppercase keywords on or off, and choose how many blank lines to insert between multiple statements. These settings let you match your team's SQL style guide exactly.

  4. 4

    Click Format and Review

    Hit the Format SQL button. The tool parses your query, applies the formatting rules, and displays the result in the output panel. If there is a syntax issue, you will see an error message indicating what went wrong. Review the formatted output to confirm it matches your expectations.

  5. 5

    Copy the Formatted SQL

    Click the Copy button to send the formatted query to your clipboard. Paste it back into your IDE, SQL file, or documentation. The formatting is pure whitespace changes — the query's logic and results are unchanged.

Expert Tips for Writing Clean SQL

Always use explicit JOIN syntax (INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN) instead of comma-separated tables with WHERE conditions. Explicit joins make the relationship between tables obvious and prevent accidental cross joins. A formatter can indent JOIN and ON clauses clearly, but it cannot fix implicit join logic for you. The ANSI JOIN syntax has been standard since SQL-92 — there is no performance difference, only readability.

Use Common Table Expressions (CTEs) to break complex queries into named stages. Instead of nesting three levels of subqueries in a FROM clause, define each stage as a CTE with WITH. The formatter will give each CTE its own block, making the data flow easy to follow. CTEs also let you reference the same intermediate result multiple times without duplicating the subquery, which both simplifies the SQL and can help the query planner.

Be deliberate about keyword casing and stick to one convention across your entire codebase. If your team uses uppercase keywords, use uppercase everywhere — not just in SELECT statements but also in CREATE TABLE, ALTER, INSERT, and GRANT. Mixing casing styles creates visual noise and makes grep-based searches unreliable. A good formatter enforces this automatically so you do not have to think about it.

Comment your SQL where the intent is not obvious. A WHERE clause filtering on status = 3 should have a comment explaining what status 3 means. A HAVING clause with a magic number threshold should document the business rule. Formatters preserve comments and place them on their own lines, so well-commented SQL remains readable after formatting. The five seconds it takes to write a comment saves five minutes the next time someone reads the query.

Related Tools

JSON Formatter

Database queries often return JSON columns or your application may serialize query results as JSON. The JSON formatter helps you inspect and beautify those results alongside your SQL. Use it to validate JSON stored in TEXT or JSONB columns.

CSV to JSON

When you export query results as CSV for analysis, converting to JSON can make the data easier to work with programmatically. This tool pairs well with the SQL formatter when you need to move data between database exports and application code.

Text Diff

After formatting SQL, you may want to compare the original and formatted versions, or compare two different query versions. The text diff tool highlights exactly what changed, making it easy to verify that formatting did not alter your query logic.

These tools complement the SQL formatter in database development workflows. You might format a complex query, diff it against a previous version, then inspect the JSON output it produces. Each tool handles one step cleanly, so you can chain them together without writing throwaway scripts.

Frequently Asked Questions

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