What is a CSS Formatter?
A CSS formatter (or CSS beautifier) takes minified, compressed, or poorly formatted CSS code and produces a clean, consistently indented version. It also provides CSS minification to reduce file size for production. This is useful when working with minified CSS from CDNs, CSS generated by build tools, or CSS pasted from various sources that has inconsistent formatting.
How to Use the CSS Formatter
Paste your CSS into the left panel. Click "Format CSS" to beautify with your chosen indentation. Click "Minify" to compress for production deployment. The status bar shows formatting success or highlights any issues. Click "Copy" to copy the output. All processing runs entirely in your browser — no CSS is uploaded to any server.
How the CSS Formatter Works
The formatter uses a pure JavaScript CSS parser that handles: selectors (including pseudo-classes, combinators, and attribute selectors), property declarations, at-rules (@media, @keyframes, @import), and nested rules. It removes excess whitespace and normalizes formatting. The minifier removes all whitespace, comments, and redundant semicolons.
Benefits of CSS Formatting
- Makes minified production CSS readable for debugging
- Normalizes team code style for consistency
- Minification reduces CSS file size by 20–40% for faster page loads
- Works with CSS, SCSS-syntax CSS, and CSS framework outputs
- 100% client-side — your CSS code stays private
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CSS minification and how much does it reduce file size?
CSS minification removes whitespace, comments, and newlines — typically reducing file size by 20–40%. Bootstrap (195KB uncompressed) minifies to 160KB, then gzip compresses to 24KB.
What is the difference between CSS and SCSS?
SCSS adds variables, nesting, mixins, and functions to CSS. SCSS must compile to CSS before browsers use it. Our formatter beautifies both CSS and SCSS syntax.
Should I minify CSS in development or production?
Format (beautify) in development. Minify for production. Modern build tools (Webpack, Vite) handle this automatically based on environment mode.
What are CSS custom properties (variables)?
Defined as --name: value in :root { }, referenced as var(--name). Unlike SCSS variables, they are live — changeable by JavaScript and cascading normally.
What is the box model in CSS?
Content + padding + border + margin = total space. Default is box-sizing: content-box (width = content only). Use box-sizing: border-box (width includes padding + border) for predictable layouts — this is why most CSS resets include * { box-sizing: border-box }.
What is CSS specificity?
Specificity determines rule priority: inline styles win over IDs, which win over classes, which win over elements. Use classes (not IDs) for styling to avoid specificity conflicts.
Is my CSS code private when using this formatter?
Yes. The formatter runs entirely in your browser. No CSS is sent to any server. Safe for proprietary stylesheets and client projects.
What CSS indentation style should I use?
2 spaces (Bootstrap, Tailwind, Airbnb style guide — most common). 4 spaces (some legacy projects). Choose based on your project's existing convention.