SQL Formatter
Format and beautify SQL queries with proper indentation.
About SQL Formatter
SQL Formatter takes raw or minified SQL queries and reformats them with consistent indentation, uppercase keywords, and proper line breaks. It supports multiple SQL dialects including standard SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, BigQuery, and SQLite. All processing runs locally in your browser — your queries are never sent to a server.
FAQ
- Does this work with all SQL dialects?
- Supports standard SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, BigQuery, and SQLite. Select your dialect from the toolbar.
- Is my query sent to a server?
- No. All formatting runs locally in your browser.
- What does Minify do?
- Collapses the SQL to a single compact line by removing extra whitespace and newlines.
ABOUT THIS TOOL
Paste a SQL query in any state - a single unreadable line, an auto-generated dump from an ORM, or a script copied out of a log file - and get back a version with consistent indentation, capitalized keywords, and clauses like SELECT, FROM, WHERE, JOIN, and GROUP BY each on their own line. This makes it easier to spot logic errors, missing joins, or mismatched parentheses before running a query against production. It works with standard ANSI SQL syntax common across MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and SQLite, though highly dialect-specific syntax may format less predictably than standard clauses.
HOW TO USE
- Paste your SQL query into the input box, regardless of current formatting.
- Click format to apply consistent indentation and line breaks.
- Review the output for correctly aligned JOIN, WHERE, and subquery blocks.
- Adjust and re-format if you edit the query afterward.
- Copy the formatted SQL into your editor, migration file, or code review comment.
COMMON USE CASES
- A developer reviewing a pull request containing a raw SQL string generated by an ORM and wanting it readable before approving.
- A data analyst pasting in a query copied from a BI tool's log to understand what it actually does.
- Someone debugging a slow query who needs to see the JOIN and WHERE structure clearly to spot an indexing problem.
- A DBA cleaning up an inherited script with inconsistent casing and indentation before adding it to version control.
- A student learning SQL who wants to see how a nested subquery is structured after writing it as one long line.
TIPS & COMMON MISTAKES
- Formatting doesn't validate the query - a formatter will happily indent SQL with a typo in a column name or a missing JOIN condition.
- Comments are generally preserved, but their placement relative to reformatted clauses can shift slightly.
- Dialect-specific syntax like MySQL's backtick identifiers or T-SQL's bracketed identifiers should still format, but always double check against your actual database engine.
- For very long queries with many nested subqueries, format the innermost subquery first if the full output is hard to follow.
MORE QUESTIONS
- Does this formatter know the difference between MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server syntax?
- It applies general ANSI SQL formatting rules that work across dialects for common clauses, but it doesn't validate dialect-specific functions - it standardizes structure and indentation, not correctness.
- Will formatting change my query's behavior?
- No, formatting only affects whitespace, line breaks, and keyword casing, not the logic, so the reformatted query returns identical results to the original.
- Can it format stored procedures or multi-statement scripts?
- Basic multi-statement scripts separated by semicolons typically format fine, but procedural blocks with variables, loops, or conditional logic in something like PL/pgSQL or T-SQL may not format as cleanly as plain queries.
- Why do keywords get capitalized in the output?
- Capitalizing keywords like SELECT and WHERE is a widely used convention that visually separates SQL syntax from table and column names, making the query easier to scan even though most databases don't require specific keyword casing.