About JSON Escape String

Escape any text as a JSON-safe string with \n \t \uXXXX handling. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the JSON collection.

Use Cases

• Paste a code snippet as a JSON value for API payloads
• Embed multiline text in config files without hand-escaping
• Convert localized strings containing quotes into JSON
• Prepare multiline SQL snippets for a JSON config file

Tips

• Escapes newlines, tabs, quotes, backslashes, and control chars
• Produces a valid JSON string literal you can paste into any JSON value
• Non-ASCII characters are also escaped to \uXXXX for maximum safety

Fun Facts

• JSON.stringify() handles ~18 different escape sequences, but only five (\" \\ \n \r \t) are common.
• JSON requires forward slashes to be optionally escapable (\/) — a quirk inherited from its use inside <script> tags where </script> would break HTML parsing.
• The U+2028 (line separator) and U+2029 (paragraph separator) characters are valid in JSON strings but invalid in JavaScript — a mismatch that wasn't fixed until ES2019.

FAQ

What's the difference between escape and stringify?

Escape takes raw text (a code snippet, a shell command) and returns JSON-safe string literal content. Stringify takes a JSON value and wraps the whole thing in a string.

Are unicode characters escaped?

By default yes — \uXXXX sequences are emitted so the output works in ASCII-only contexts (cURL headers, shell scripts). Toggle 'ASCII-safe' off for raw UTF-8.

Does it escape newlines and tabs?

Yes — \n, \t, \r, and form feed become their escape sequences. Null bytes become \u0000.

Is the output ready to paste into a JSON file?

Yes, between a pair of double quotes. The tool only returns the escaped contents — add your own `"..."` wrapper.