diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f980ef9..14aeb70 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ All notable changes to the "vscode-appwrite" extension will be documented in thi
 Check [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) for recommendations on how to structure this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+## Added
+- New feature! JSON strings inside documents will now be automatically formatted as JSON when viewing documents. You can turn this feature off via the `appwrite.formatJsonStrings` setting.
 
 ## [0.1.2] - 2021-6-03
 ## Added
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b653cd9..9d7a56d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -726,6 +726,11 @@
                     "type": "string",
                     "default": "",
                     "markdownDescription": "Project id of the active project, see [docs](https://github.com/streamlux/vscode-appwrite/) for more information."
+                },
+                "appwrite.formatJsonStrings": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "default": true,
+                    "markdownDescription": "Format JSON strings when viewing documents"
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/commands/database/openDocument.ts b/src/commands/database/openDocument.ts
index e8b2e4a..45d57eb 100644
--- a/src/commands/database/openDocument.ts
+++ b/src/commands/database/openDocument.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,30 @@
+import { workspace } from "vscode";
 import { DocumentTreeItem } from "../../tree/database/DocumentTreeItem";
 import { openReadOnlyJson } from "../../ui/openReadonlyContent";
 
+function parseJSONString(str: string): { valid: boolean; value: any } {
+    try {
+        return { value: JSON.parse(str), valid: true };
+    } catch (e) {
+        return { value: str, valid: false };
+    }
+}
+
 export async function viewDocumentAsJson(documentTreeItem: DocumentTreeItem): Promise<void> {
-    const documentId = documentTreeItem.document["$id"];
+    const document = documentTreeItem.document;
+    const documentId = document["$id"];
+
+    const formatJsonStrings = workspace.getConfiguration("appwrite").get<Boolean>("formatJsonStrings");
+
+    if (formatJsonStrings) {
+        Object.entries(document).forEach(([key, value]) => {
+            if (typeof value === "string") {
+                const result = parseJSONString(value);
+                document[key] = result;
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     await openReadOnlyJson(
         {
             label: documentId,