What is JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format widely used for storing and transmitting structured data. It organizes information into nested objects and arrays using key-value pairs. While JSON is easy for machines to parse, its hierarchical structure can make it hard to read or process in tools that expect plain text — spreadsheets, log analyzers, configuration files, or simple text editors.

Converting JSON to plain text "flattens" that nested structure into a linear list of entries, making it much easier to scan, copy, or import into other systems.

Tool description

This tool converts JSON data into human-readable plain text by traversing and flattening the entire JSON structure. Nested objects and arrays are collapsed into a single line per value, with each path represented using dot notation for objects and bracket notation for arrays. You can choose what to include in the output: full key-value pairs, values only, or keys only. When outputting key-value pairs you can also pick the separator character between the key and its value.

Examples

Input JSON:

{
  "name": "Alice",
  "age": 30,
  "address": {
    "city": "Berlin",
    "zip": "10115"
  },
  "hobbies": ["reading", "cycling"]
}

Key-Value Pairs output (separator : ):

name: Alice
age: 30
address.city: Berlin
address.zip: 10115
hobbies[0]: reading
hobbies[1]: cycling

Values Only output:

Alice
30
Berlin
10115
reading
cycling

Keys Only output:

name
age
address.city
address.zip
hobbies[0]
hobbies[1]

Features

  • Flattens deeply nested JSON objects and arrays into individual lines
  • Three output formats: key-value pairs, values only, or keys only
  • Four separator options for key-value mode: colon, equals sign, dash, or tab
  • Dot notation for nested object keys (parent.child.grandchild)
  • Bracket notation for array indices (items[0], items[1])

How it works

The tool recursively walks the JSON structure. For each primitive value (string, number, boolean, or null) it records the full path from the root to that value. Object keys are joined with a . and array indices are written as [n]. The collected path-value pairs are then formatted according to the chosen output mode and joined into a plain text document with one entry per line.

Use cases

  • Importing JSON data into spreadsheets — extract values only and paste them into a column without having to strip JSON syntax manually.
  • Debugging API responses — quickly scan all keys and values in a flat list to spot missing or unexpected fields without navigating a tree view.
  • Generating configuration or environment files — convert a JSON settings object into a flat key=value format suitable for .env files or INI-style configs.

Options explained

Option Description
Key-Value Pairs Outputs each leaf node as full.path: value (one per line)
Values Only Outputs only the primitive values, one per line
Keys Only Outputs only the full dotted paths, one per line
Separator The character(s) placed between the key and value in key-value mode (: , =, -, or tab)

Limitations

  • Only primitive leaf values (strings, numbers, booleans, null) appear as separate lines — empty arrays and empty objects produce no output lines.
  • The tool converts one-way only: JSON → Text. Use a JSON formatter or editor to go the other direction.
  • Very large JSON files may produce a long output; consider filtering or paginating the data beforehand.