XML Converter
FileFlip converts XML files into 5 other formats entirely inside your browser, using the text engine compiled to WebAssembly. The XML file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. There is no file-size limit and no account to create.
How do I convert an XML file?#
- Drop your XML file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer.
- Choose the format you want out of it. FileFlip downloads the engine that conversion needs, once, and your browser caches it.
- Conversion starts the moment you pick the format, and the result is yours to download. The work happens in this tab, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is queued.
Is it safe to convert XML files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts XML files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What happens to a XML file#
FileFlip converts XML into 5 formats with the text engine, all of it inside the browser tab. Each conversion below names the engine it uses, what it downloads, and exactly what that conversion keeps or drops.
| Category | Data Files |
|---|---|
| File extension | .xml |
| FileFlip support | Read and written |
| Conversions available | 5 |
| Engines | the text engine |
| Downloaded to your browser | Nothing. Your browser already has everything these conversions need |
What is an XML file?#
An XML file holds data as nested elements identified by opening and closing tags, optionally carrying attributes, namespaces and a schema that validates its structure.
Use XML where a schema needs to validate the document's shape, or the receiving system is a SOAP service or a Java or .NET stack that expects it.
Convert XML to JSON when a web API or a JavaScript codebase needs to consume the data, since neither has native use for XML's attributes or namespaces.
The XML file format reference covers the specification, the programs that open one, and what each conversion keeps or drops.
XML questions people ask#
What happens to XML attributes when converting to JSON?
XML lets a node carry data two ways, as an attribute on its tag or as a nested element, and JSON only has one, a plain key. Converting XML to JSON has to fold attributes into ordinary keys, usually with a prefix like an @ sign, and that convention differs between converters because there's no standard mapping between the two.
Does converting XML to JSON keep the namespaces?
Not meaningfully. XML namespaces disambiguate elements from different vocabularies using a URI, and JSON keys have no namespace concept, so a converter either drops the namespace prefix, folds it into the key name as text, or ignores it. Either way, the semantic distinction the namespace was providing is gone from the JSON output.
How does XML represent a list if it has no array type?
XML has no array syntax, so a list is written as several sibling elements sharing the same tag name, and it's the reader's job to know that repetition means a list rather than a coincidence. A single item in what should be a list looks identical to a field that only ever has one value, which is a common source of bugs when converting XML to JSON, since a converter has to guess whether to produce an array or a single object.
Do XML comments survive conversion to JSON or YAML?
No. XML comments, written inside angle-bracket-bang markers, aren't part of the data model a converter reads, so they're discarded during conversion to JSON, YAML or any other format. The same is true of processing instructions and the DOCTYPE declaration.