JSON Escape/Unescape Free Online Tool 2026

Last updated March 22, 2026

JSON Escape / Unescape Examples

The JSON Escape/Unescape tool converts special characters to their JSON escape sequences and back. Below are examples of common escaping scenarios.

JSON Escape Sequences Reference

Character    Escaped    Description
"            \"         Double quote
\            \\         Backslash
/            \/         Forward slash (optional)
newline      \n         Line feed
tab          \t         Horizontal tab
carriage     \r         Carriage return
form feed    \f         Form feed
backspace    \b         Backspace
U+0000–001F  \uXXXX     Control characters

Example: Escaping a String for JSON

// Input string (raw text):
He said "Hello, World!"
Path: C:\Users\Alice\Documents
Line 1
Line 2
	Indented with tab

// Escaped for JSON:
"He said \"Hello, World!\"\nPath: C:\\Users\\Alice\\Documents\nLine 1\nLine 2\n\tIndented with tab"

Example: Embedding JSON Inside JSON

// Inner JSON object:
{
  "name": "Alice",
  "age": 30
}

// Escaped to embed as a string value in outer JSON:
{
  "event": "user_created",
  "payload": "{\"name\":\"Alice\",\"age\":30}"
}

// The payload field contains the inner JSON as an escaped string.
// To read it: JSON.parse(response.payload)

Example: Unescaping Double-Encoded JSON

// What you receive from an API (double-encoded):
"{\"status\":\"ok\",\"data\":{\"id\":42,\"name\":\"Alice\"}}"

// After first unescape:
{"status":"ok","data":{"id":42,"name":"Alice"}}

// Now valid JSON — parse normally:
{
  "status": "ok",
  "data": {
    "id": 42,
    "name": "Alice"
  }
}

Example: Environment Variable with JSON

// Formatted JSON config:
{
  "host": "localhost",
  "port": 5432,
  "credentials": {
    "user": "admin",
    "password": "s3cr3t"
  }
}

// Escaped for .env file (single line):
DB_CONFIG="{\"host\":\"localhost\",\"port\":5432,\"credentials\":{\"user\":\"admin\",\"password\":\"s3cr3t\"}}"

// In application code:
const config = JSON.parse(process.env.DB_CONFIG);

Example: SQL String with JSON

// JSON to store in a database TEXT column:
{"event": "login", "ip": "192.168.1.1", "timestamp": "2024-01-15T14:30:00Z"}

// Escaped for SQL INSERT:
INSERT INTO audit_log (data) VALUES
  ("{\"event\": \"login\", \"ip\": \"192.168.1.1\", \"timestamp\": \"2024-01-15T14:30:00Z\"}");

// Better approach: use parameterized queries
// db.query('INSERT INTO audit_log (data) VALUES (?)', [jsonString]);

Example: Unicode Escape Sequences

// Input with special characters:
Café au lait — €5.00
日本語テスト
Emoji: 😀

// With Unicode escaping:
"Caf\u00e9 au lait \u2014 \u20ac5.00"
"\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u30c6\u30b9\u30c8"
"Emoji: \ud83d\ude00"

// Unescaping restores original:
Café au lait — €5.00
日本語テスト
Emoji: 😀

Example: Webhook Payload Escaping

// Webhook payload to send as a JSON string field:
{
  "type": "payment",
  "amount": 99.99,
  "description": "Order #1234 - \"Premium\" plan"
}

// Escaped as a string value:
{
  "event": "webhook_received",
  "raw_payload": "{\"type\":\"payment\",\"amount\":99.99,\"description\":\"Order #1234 - \\\"Premium\\\" plan\"}"
}

// Note: the inner quotes are escaped once (\"),
// and the backslashes before them are escaped again (\\")

Example: Log File JSON Strings

// Log entry (raw):
2024-01-15 14:30:00 INFO Request: {"method":"POST","path":"/api/users","body":{"name":"Alice","email":"alice@example.com"}}

// The JSON in the log is already escaped — to read it:
// Extract the JSON portion and unescape it

// Unescaped and formatted:
{
  "method": "POST",
  "path": "/api/users",
  "body": {
    "name": "Alice",
    "email": "alice@example.com"
  }
}

Common Escaping Mistakes

// ✗ Wrong — unescaped quotes break JSON:
{ "message": "He said "hello"" }

// ✓ Correct — quotes escaped:
{ "message": "He said \"hello\"" }

// ✗ Wrong — unescaped backslash:
{ "path": "C:\Users\Alice" }

// ✓ Correct — backslash escaped:
{ "path": "C:\\Users\\Alice" }

// ✗ Wrong — literal newline in string:
{ "text": "line 1
line 2" }

// ✓ Correct — newline escaped:
{ "text": "line 1\nline 2" }

Paste your text into the escape tool to convert it to a valid JSON string, or paste an escaped JSON string into the unescape tool to restore the original readable text.