How to Open JSON Files: Complete Guide for All Platforms

Opening JSON Files

JSON files are plain text files, so they can be opened with any text editor. However, using the right tool makes a big difference.

Quick Methods by Platform

Windows

Notepad (Basic):

• Right-click file → Open with → Notepad

VS Code (Recommended):

• Right-click file → Open with Code
• Syntax highlighting and validation included

Mac

TextEdit:

• Right-click → Open With → TextEdit

VS Code:

• Right-click → Open with → Visual Studio Code

Linux

# View in terminal
cat file.json

# Pretty print
cat file.json | python3 -m json.tool

# Open in editor
code file.json  # VS Code
nano file.json  # Nano
vim file.json   # Vim

Best Tools for JSON

1. Visual Studio Code (Desktop)

Free cross-platform editor with:

• Syntax highlighting
• Auto-formatting (Shift+Alt+F)
• Error validation
• Extensions for JSON

2. Big JSON Viewer (Online)

Perfect for large files:

• No installation needed
• Handles 100MB+ files
• Tree view navigation
• Search functionality
• Share via URL

Visit bigjson.online

3. Browser

Simply drag a JSON file into Chrome/Firefox to view it formatted.

For Large JSON Files

Standard editors struggle with files over 100MB. Use:

Big JSON Viewer - Specifically designed for large files

Command line tools - jq, less, head

Streaming tools - For files over 1GB

Command Line Tools

jq (JSON Processor)

# Install
brew install jq  # Mac
apt install jq   # Ubuntu

# Pretty print
jq '.' file.json

# Colored output
jq -C '.' file.json

# Extract field
jq '.users[0].name' file.json

Python

# Built-in pretty print
python -m json.tool file.json

Editing JSON Files

Open file in VS Code

Make changes

Format: Shift+Alt+F (Windows) or Shift+Option+F (Mac)

Save: Ctrl+S

VS Code shows errors in real-time with red underlines.

Troubleshooting

File Opens as Gibberish

The file might be compressed or encoded. Check the file extension.

Can't Open Large File

• Use Big JSON Viewer
• Use command line: head -100 file.json
• Split the file into smaller parts

Encoding Issues

# Check encoding
file -i yourfile.json

# Convert to UTF-8
iconv -f ISO-8859-1 -t UTF-8 input.json > output.json

Online Tools

Big JSON Viewer - Best for large files

JSONLint - Quick validation

JSON Editor Online - In-browser editing

Best Practices

Use VS Code for local editing

Use Big JSON Viewer for large files and quick viewing

Always validate after editing

Keep backups before major changes

Conclusion

For most users, VS Code for editing and Big JSON Viewer for viewing/analyzing covers all needs!