How to Format JSON in PHP

Feb 05, 2026 3 min read

Formatting JSON in PHP is extremely straightforward. The built-in json_encode() function accepts a bitmask of options. By passing the JSON_PRETTY_PRINT constant, you get beautifully indented JSON output.

Example Code

PHP

<?php

$data = [
    "name" => "John",
    "age" => 30,
    "city" => "New York",
    "skills" => ["PHP", "Laravel"]
];

// Use JSON_PRETTY_PRINT flag to indent the JSON
$formattedJson = json_encode($data, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES);

echo $formattedJson;
?>

Common Use Cases

Outputting readable JSON APIs directly from PHP scripts
Saving JSON representations of objects to files
Debugging variables directly

💡 Pro Tips for PHP

Always combine JSON_PRETTY_PRINT with JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES if your strings include URLs to prevent escaping.
If you are containing Unicode characters, add JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE.
The indent level in PHP is hardcoded to 4 spaces, so you cannot change it out of the box dynamically.

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