SQL Formatter
Format SQL — turn one-line queries into readable, indented statements.
How to use SQL Formatter
- Paste the SQL — from a log, ORM debug output or legacy code.
- Read the formatted query — clauses lined up, subqueries indented, keywords uppercase.
- Review the logic — join conditions and WHERE structure are where formatted queries reveal their surprises.
- Copy it back — formatting is semantically neutral; every engine runs it identically.
What is SQL Formatter?
A SQL formatter restructures queries into readable form: major clauses (SELECT, FROM, WHERE, GROUP BY) each on their own line, joins aligned, subqueries indented, keywords consistently cased. A 400-character one-liner from a log becomes a statement whose logic you can actually review.
SQL arrives unreadable constantly: ORMs generate single-line monsters, logs and slow-query reports strip formatting, colleagues paste whatever their console held, and legacy codebases embed queries formatted by whim. SQL's clause structure is genuinely hierarchical — formatting makes the hierarchy visible, which is most of understanding a query.
About the SQL Formatter
Paste any SQL — SELECTs, INSERTs, DDL, however mangled — and get it formatted: clauses separated, nesting indented, keywords uppercased.
Where it pays off: reviewing ORM-generated queries when debugging performance (the slow-query log's one-liner, formatted, reveals the JOIN explosion), understanding inherited queries before modifying them (a formatted subquery structure shows what the WHERE actually filters), preparing SQL for code review or documentation, and comparing two query variants (format both, then our Diff Checker shows the real difference instead of whitespace noise).
Dialect-agnostic by nature — MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server and SQLite share the clause grammar formatting cares about. Formatting changes zero semantics: whitespace and keyword case are meaningless to every SQL engine; readability is purely for the humans maintaining the query.