When deserializing an object to a Dictionary
(JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IDictionary<string,object>>(json)
) nested objects are deserialized to JObject
s. Is it possible to force nested objects to be deserialized to Dictionary
s?

- 47,404
- 11
- 101
- 179
-
This article provides an easy way to deserialize a nested JSON obejct into a Dictionary: https://buildplease.com/pages/json/ – zirkelc Apr 02 '18 at 12:23
-
May not be Dictionary, but I myself have been deserializing to ExpandoObject to get the same effect. – alans Sep 21 '18 at 18:39
7 Answers
I found a way to convert all nested objects to Dictionary<string,object>
by providing a CustomCreationConverter
implementation:
class MyConverter : CustomCreationConverter<IDictionary<string, object>>
{
public override IDictionary<string, object> Create(Type objectType)
{
return new Dictionary<string, object>();
}
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
// in addition to handling IDictionary<string, object>
// we want to handle the deserialization of dict value
// which is of type object
return objectType == typeof(object) || base.CanConvert(objectType);
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartObject
|| reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return base.ReadJson(reader, objectType, existingValue, serializer);
// if the next token is not an object
// then fall back on standard deserializer (strings, numbers etc.)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var json = File.ReadAllText(@"c:\test.json");
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IDictionary<string, object>>(
json, new JsonConverter[] {new MyConverter()});
}
}
Documentation: CustomCreationConverter with Json.NET

- 48,174
- 24
- 109
- 130

- 5,011
- 2
- 23
- 34
I had a very similar but slightly more complex need when I ran across this Q. At first I thought maybe I could adapt the accepted answer, but that seemed a bit complicated and I ended up taking a different approach. I was attempting to put a modern JSON layer on top of a legacy C++ API. I'll spare you the details of that, and just say the requirements boil down to:
JSON objects become
Dictionary<string,object>
.JSON arrays become
List<object>
.JSON values become the corresponding primitive CLR values.
The objects and arrays can be infinitely nested.
I first deserialize the request string into a Newtonsoft JSON object and then call my method to convert in accordance with the above requirements:
var jsonObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(requestString);
var apiRequest = ToApiRequest(jsonObject);
// call the legacy C++ API ...
Here is my method that converts to the structure the API expects:
private static object ToApiRequest(object requestObject)
{
switch (requestObject)
{
case JObject jObject: // objects become Dictionary<string,object>
return ((IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, JToken>>) jObject).ToDictionary(j => j.Key, j => ToApiRequest(j.Value));
case JArray jArray: // arrays become List<object>
return jArray.Select(ToApiRequest).ToList();
case JValue jValue: // values just become the value
return jValue.Value;
default: // don't know what to do here
throw new Exception($"Unsupported type: {requestObject.GetType()}");
}
}
I hope that someone can find this approach useful.

- 822
- 8
- 17
-
This was really useful. I was unable to decode this kind of response with the given solution. {"id":2,"name":"root","descendants":[{"id":4,"name":"node2","descendants":[{"id":7,"name":"node21"},{"id":8,"name":"node22"}]},{"id":3,"name":"node1","descendants":[{"id":5,"name":"node11"},{"id":6,"name":"node12"}]}]}. Thanks – Pushpa Kumara May 28 '21 at 11:56
Alternative/Update:
I needed to deserialize a dictionary of dictionaries of String
s and with current Json.NET (5.0) I did not had to create a CustomConverter, I just used (in VB.Net):
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of IDictionary(Of String, IDictionary(Of String, String)))(jsonString)
Or, in C#:
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IDictionary<String, IDictionary<String, String>>(jsonString);

- 7,275
- 12
- 50
- 74
-
13This does not support recursive/unknown json structures being converted properly. – Andrew Theken May 01 '15 at 20:15
-
3This doesn't answer, as it specifically refers to a fixed levels of nesting – Javier May 29 '15 at 14:18
@AlexD's accepted solution does not work ideally if there is an array in the json. It returns a JArray
of JObject
instead a List<Dictionary<string, object>>
This can be solved by modifying the ReadJson() method:
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartObject || reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return base.ReadJson(reader, objectType, existingValue, serializer);
//if it's an array serialize it as a list of dictionaries
if(reader.TokenType == JsonToken.ArrayStart)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader, typeof(List<Dictionary<string, object>>));
// if the next token is not an object
// then fall back on standard deserializer (strings, numbers etc.)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}

- 631
- 6
- 15
I have a nested/deep structure of "unknown" dictionaries that is serialized/deserialized to/from C# objects and JSON string. .NET 5.
If I use Newtonsoft
it does not work automatically.
If I use System.Text.Json
it works automatically.
//does NOT work (newtonDeserialized does not have the same data in the nested Dictionaries as in object):
var newtonSerialized = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(object);
var newtonDeserialized = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<WaitlistResponse>(newtonSerialized);
//Works (netDeserialized have the same data in the nested Directories as in object):
var netSerialized = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(object);
var netDeserialized = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize<WaitlistResponse>(netSerialized);

- 354
- 2
- 12
In my case, not everything is nested dictionary. I also have an array that is key-value of primitive types and it throws exception when the object of the array is not a dictionary.
So, based on Phillip S' answer, I came up with
public override object? ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object? existingValue,
JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartObject || reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return base.ReadJson(reader, objectType, existingValue, serializer);
//if it's an array serialize it as a list of dictionaries
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartArray)
{
return serializer.Deserialize(reader, typeof(List<object>)); // instead of List<Dictionary<string, object>>
}
// if the next token is not an object
// then fall back on standard deserializer (strings, numbers etc.)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
Hope it helps those haven't got it working yet.

- 153
- 1
- 8
First of all you need to serialize your dictionary values.
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings { TypeNameHandling= TypeNameHandling.All };
var serializeValues = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(nestedDictionaryValues, settings);
//After serialize using deserialize using the same TypeNameHandling.
var deserializeValues = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(serializeValues, settings);

- 1
- 1