JSON has no equivalent of an XML root element or an attribute, so converting between the two formats always involves a few decisions a machine cannot make on its own. Object keys map naturally onto XML element names, but a JSON array has no name of its own for each of its entries, which is exactly the gap this tool's configurable item name fills.
Everything runs locally in your browser. Your JSON is parsed and walked recursively to build the XML string, character escaping is applied automatically, and nothing you paste or upload is transmitted anywhere, so a configuration payload or API sample stays entirely on your own device throughout the conversion.
When you should convert JSON to XML
XML is still the required format for a long list of enterprise systems, SOAP based APIs, RSS and Atom feeds, and older document formats that predate JSON's popularity. If the system you are integrating with expects XML, or if you are generating a feed or a legacy import file, converting is the fastest way to get there without writing a serializer by hand.
For anything modern, a REST API, a JavaScript application or a configuration file, JSON usually remains the better native format, and converting to XML is a step taken only because a specific downstream system requires it.
- Convert to XML when integrating with a SOAP API or a legacy enterprise system.
- Convert to XML when generating an RSS, Atom or sitemap style feed by hand.
- Convert to XML when a vendor's import tool only accepts XML files.
- Keep JSON for modern REST APIs and JavaScript facing configuration.
Choosing an XML root element
Every well formed XML document needs exactly one top level element wrapping everything else, which is the xml root element this converter lets you name directly. JSON has no equivalent concept, since a JSON document can be an object, an array or even a bare string at its top level, so the converter needs you to supply a name for that outer wrapper.
Pick a root name that describes the whole payload, such as catalog for a list of products or response for an API reply. The default of root works for a quick conversion, but a descriptive name makes the resulting XML considerably easier to read and validate against a schema later.
Handling a JSON array to XML with a custom item name
Converting a json array to xml is the one place JSON and XML genuinely disagree about structure. A JSON array is just an ordered list of values with no name attached to each entry, but every XML element needs a tag name. This converter solves that by repeating a configurable item element once for every entry in the array, wrapped inside an element named after the array's own key.
So a JSON array named tags containing two strings becomes a tags element containing two item elements, one per entry, assuming the default item name is left in place. Renaming the item field to something more specific, like product or entry, produces markup that reads far better once opened in an editor or fed into another system.
Custom XML tags and characters that need escaping
JSON keys are far less restricted than XML element names. A JSON key can contain spaces, start with a digit or include punctuation that is not legal at the start of an XML tag, so this converter automatically sanitises any key that would otherwise produce invalid custom xml tags, replacing disallowed characters with an underscore.
Text content is escaped according to the XML specification as it is written into the document: an ampersand becomes &, a less than sign becomes <, a greater than sign becomes >, and quote characters are escaped as well. This is exactly the same escaping every XML parser expects, so the resulting document is safe to reopen and re parse without producing a malformed markup error.
How this JSON to XML converter works in your browser
The tool parses your JSON with the browser's built in JSON.parse, then walks the resulting value recursively, building one XML element per object key, one repeated element per array entry, and one text node per primitive value, indenting each level for readability as it goes.
Because the whole process is plain JavaScript running in your browser tab, there is no upload step and no server side processing involved. You can confirm this by watching your browser's network panel while converting, and a large JSON document is limited only by your own device's available memory rather than by a service quota.
How to convert JSON to XML
- 1
Add your JSON
Paste JSON into the text box, or drop a .json file onto the upload area. Nothing leaves your device.
- 2
Name the root element
Set a descriptive root element name for the top level wrapper every XML document requires.
- 3
Name the array item element
Choose the tag repeated for every entry inside a JSON array, since arrays have no name of their own.
- 4
Convert and download
Press convert, review the well formed XML, then download the file or copy it to your clipboard.
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Sources and further reading
- W3C: Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0The official XML specification defining well formed documents and character escaping.w3.org
- JSON.org: Introducing JSONThe official description of the JSON format this tool parses as input.json.org
- MDN: JSON.parseThe browser API used to parse the JSON text before it is walked into XML elements.developer.mozilla.org
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the json to xml converter.
Yes, with no signup and no limit on how many times you convert. The parsing and XML generation both run in your browser, so there is no per conversion server cost that would require charging for the tool or restricting how often you use it.
XML requires exactly one top level element wrapping the entire document, while JSON has no equivalent concept since a JSON value can stand alone at the top level. Naming the root element lets the converter produce valid, well formed XML instead of guessing at a generic wrapper name that may not fit your use case.
Each entry in the array becomes a separate element using the item name you configure, and all of those elements are wrapped inside a parent element named after the array's own key in the JSON. This mirrors how repeated elements are conventionally represented in hand written XML documents.
The converter automatically replaces characters that are not allowed in an XML tag, such as spaces or a key starting with a digit, so every element name in the output is valid. This avoids producing an XML document that fails to parse because of an illegal element name.
Yes. Ampersands, angle brackets and quote characters in your text content are all escaped according to the XML specification as the document is built, so values containing those characters do not break the markup or cause the resulting file to fail validation.
No. Parsing and XML generation both happen locally in your browser using JavaScript, so a payload containing sensitive data never leaves your device during the conversion. You can verify this yourself by checking your browser's network panel while a conversion runs.