JSON to INI - Create Legacy Config Files

Convert JSON to INI configuration format in your browser. Perfect for Windows apps, legacy systems, PHP configs. Private, no uploads.

JSON Input

INI Output

Array format:

Default section:

Quote all strings

Copied to clipboard

JSON to YAML Converter - Transform Confi…

YAML to JSON Converter - Parse YAML Conf…

XML to YAML - Migrate Configs to Modern …

XML to JSON Converter - Parse XML to JSO…

CSV to XML Generator for Legacy Systems

View all Data serializers →

Frequently Asked Questions

INI (initialization) files are simple text configuration files used by Windows applications, legacy systems, and many software tools. They use [sections] with key=value pairs for organizing settings.

Many legacy applications, Windows programs, PHP configurations, and older systems require INI format. Converting from JSON makes it easy to generate configs from modern APIs or data sources.

Nested objects become INI sections. For example, {database: {host: 'localhost'}} becomes [database] followed by host=localhost. This preserves hierarchy in a flat INI structure.

Flat JSON objects without nested structure are placed under a [general] or [config] section by default, ensuring valid INI format even for simple key-value data.

Arrays can be converted two ways: as comma-separated values (tags=a,b,c) or as indexed keys (tag.0=a, tag.1=b, tag.2=c). Choose based on how your target application parses INI files.

Values containing special characters (=, ;, #) are automatically quoted. Newlines are escaped as \n. This ensures compatibility with standard INI parsers.

INI supports comments with ; or #, but JSON has no comment structure. This converter focuses on data conversion. You can manually add comments to the generated INI file afterward.

Output uses UTF-8 encoding by default, which is compatible with modern INI parsers. For legacy Windows apps expecting ANSI, you may need to save with a different encoding.

The converter produces standard INI format. Most parsers are forgiving, but watch for special characters in keys and values. Test with your target application to ensure compatibility.

Generating configs for Windows applications, PHP.ini customization, legacy system integration, creating .desktop files on Linux, game configuration files, and migrating modern JSON configs to older systems.

Related Tools