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html-minifier

(★ 142)

Fast command-line HTML minifier — works on any HTML, with special support for Razor and Web Forms views. Parallel processing, safe preservation of <pre>/<code>/Knockout blocks, and easy MSBuild/CI integration.

File Explorer

Download Latest Version (.zip)

- - dotnet-desktop.yml
- copilot-instructions.md
- settings.json
- - reporting.png
- index.html
- - 65K.txt
  - 65KResult.txt
  - Arabic.txt
  - ArabicResult.txt
  - Comments.txt
  - CommentsResult.txt
  - Encoding.txt
  - GithubIssue10.txt
  - GithubIssue10Result.txt
  - GithubIssue13.txt
  - GithubIssue13Result.txt
  - GithubIssue54.txt
  - GithubIssue54Result.txt
  - LanguageSpecificCharacters.txt
  - LanguageSpecificCharactersResult.txt
  - ModelList.txt
  - ModelListResult.txt
  - Standard.txt
  - StandardResult.txt
- - AssemblyInfo.cs
- app.config
- ArgumentsTests.cs
- DataHelpers.cs
- EdgeCaseTests.cs
- FileExtensionTests.cs
- HelpAndVersionTests.cs
- HtmlMinifier.Tests.csproj
- MinificationTests.cs
- packages.config
- PerformanceBenchmarkTests.cs
- HtmlMinifier.exe
- HtmlMinifier.exe.config
- - AssemblyInfo.cs
- App.config
- ConsoleReporter.cs
- EncodingHelper.cs
- Features.cs
- HtmlMinifier.csproj
- Program.cs
- StreamReaderExtension.cs
- StringExtension.cs
.gitattributes
.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md
HtmlMinifier.sln
LICENSE.md
README.md
test_sample.html

# Installation Guide

1. Get the code

git clone https://github.com/deanhume/html-minifier

Downloads the entire project code from GitHub to your computer.

cd html-minifier

Moves into the project folder you just downloaded.

2. .NET

Medium Recommended

Prerequisites

Git Needed to download the project code from GitHub.
.NET SDK The SDK required for the dotnet command.

cd HtmlMinifier.Tests

This project's files live in a subfolder, so move into it first.

dotnet restore

Downloads the packages the project depends on.

dotnet run

Builds the project and runs it immediately.

✅ After dotnet run, check the message or address shown in the terminal.

// repository documentation

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# HTML Minifier

![Github Actions Status](https://github.com/deanhume/html-minifier/actions/workflows/dotnet-desktop.yml/badge.svg)
[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/deanhume/html-minifier/master/LICENSE.md)

A fast and efficient command-line tool to minify your HTML, Razor views, and Web Forms views. Reduce file sizes, improve load times, and deliver a better user experience by removing unnecessary whitespace and comments from your HTML files.

## ✨ Features

- 🚀 **Fast Processing** - Minifies files and entire directory trees quickly with parallel processing
- ⚡ **Parallel Processing** - Utilizes all CPU cores for maximum performance (4-8x faster on multi-core systems)
- 📊 **Beautiful Reporting** - Comprehensive statistics with progress tracking and professional visual presentation
- 📁 **Flexible Input** - Process individual files, specific folders, or entire directory structures
- ⚙️ **Configurable** - Control line length and selectively disable minification features
- 🔧 **Framework Support** - Special handling for Knockout.js, Angular, and other comment-dependent frameworks
- 🎯 **Targeted Minification** - Choose what to minify: HTML comments, JavaScript comments, or Knockout comments
- 🛡️ **Safe Minification** - Preserves content inside `<pre>`, `<textarea>`, and `<code>` tags, and normalises attribute whitespace
- 🔄 **CI/CD Ready** - Easy integration with MSBuild and build pipelines

## 📊 Beautiful Reporting

Every run finishes with a clear, colour-coded summary - per-file savings plus overall compression, throughput, and elapsed time:

<img src="docs/images/reporting.png" alt="HTML Minifier console reporting output showing per-file savings and a minification summary" width="400">

## 📦 Installation

1. Download the latest release from the [releases page](https://github.com/deanhume/html-minifier/releases)
2. Extract the `HtmlMinifier.exe` to your desired location
3. Add the tool to your PATH or reference it directly

## 🚀 Quick Start

Transform verbose HTML into compact, optimized code:

### Before:

```html
<h2>
    Admin Menu</h2>
<ul>
    <li>@Html.ActionLink("Edit blog entries", "List", "Admin")</li>
    <li>@Html.ActionLink("View Comments", "CommentList", "Admin")</li>
    <li>@Html.ActionLink("Clear Cache", "ClearCache", "Admin")</li>
</ul>
```

### After:

```html
<h2> Admin Menu</h2><ul><li>@Html.ActionLink("Edit blog entries", "List", "Admin")</li><li>@Html.ActionLink("View Comments", "CommentList", "Admin")</li><li>@Html.ActionLink("Clear Cache", "ClearCache", "Admin")</li></ul>
```

## 📖 Usage

### Getting Help

View all available options:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe --help
```

Check the version:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe --version
```

### Basic Usage

Minify all HTML files in a folder (including subfolders):

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder"
```

### Advanced Options

#### Limit Line Length

Restrict the maximum number of characters per line:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder" "60000"
```

#### Preserve Comments

For frameworks that rely on HTML comments (Angular, Knockout, etc.), preserve them:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder" ignorehtmlcomments
```

#### Preserve JavaScript Comments

Keep JavaScript comments in your code:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder" ignorejscomments
```

#### Preserve Knockout Comments

Specifically preserve [Knockout.js](http://knockoutjs.com/) comments:

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder" ignoreknockoutcomments
```

### Multiple Targets

#### Minify Multiple Folders

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder\fld1" "C:\Folder\fld2"
```

#### Minify Specific Files

```bash
HtmlMinifier.exe "C:\Folder\file1.html" "C:\Folder\file2.html"
```

## 🔨 Build Integration

Integrate HTML Minifier into your build process for automatic minification during deployment. Check out this [detailed guide on using HTML Minifier with MSBuild](https://deanhume.com/a-simple-html-minifier-for-asp-net/).

## 🛡️ What Gets Preserved

The following content is never altered by minification:

- **`<pre>`, `<textarea>`, `<code>` tags** — internal whitespace is kept exactly as-is
- **IE conditional comments** — ``, and `` patterns are all preserved
- **`#include` virtual comments** — ASP.NET server-side includes are left intact
- **Knockout comments** — `` / `` are preserved when `ignoreknockoutcomments` is set
- **Razor declarations** — `@model`, `@using`, `@inherits` are kept and correctly re-arranged
- **Attribute values** — content inside quotes is preserved; leading/trailing whitespace is normalised

## 🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

## 📝 Requirements

- .NET Framework (Windows)
- Supports HTML, Razor (.cshtml), and Web Forms (.aspx) files

## 📄 License

Copyright (C) Dean Hume 2013 - 2026

Released under the [MIT License](LICENSE.md)

---

**Made with ❤️ by [Dean Hume](https://deanhume.com)**