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HTML Entity Encoder/Decoder

Convert HTML special characters to entities and vice versa. Essential for displaying HTML code safely.

Input Text

Characters:43

Encoded Output

HTML entities (safe for display in HTML)

<div class="example">Hello & Welcome!</div>
Characters:69Increase:+26

Common HTML Entities:

< = &lt;
> = &gt;
& = &amp;
" = &quot;
' = &#39;
space = &nbsp;

Decoded Output

Plain text (entities converted to characters)

<div class="example">Hello & Welcome!</div>
Characters:43Change:0
Related tools:🔗URL Encoder/Decoder•🔐Base64 Encoder/Decoder•🔍Text Diff Checker

About HTML Entity Encoder

What are HTML Entities?

HTML entities are special codes that represent reserved characters in HTML. They begin with an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;). For example, &lt; represents the less-than symbol (<), and &gt; represents the greater-than symbol (>).

Why Use HTML Entity Encoding?

Display HTML Code: When you want to show HTML code as text on a webpage, you must encode special characters. Otherwise, the browser will interpret them as HTML markup.
Prevent XSS Attacks: Encoding user input prevents cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by ensuring malicious HTML/JavaScript cannot be executed.
Preserve Special Characters: Safely include characters that have special meaning in HTML, like <, >, &, and quotes.
Compatibility: Ensure text displays correctly across different browsers and character encodings.

Common HTML Entities

CharacterEntity CodeDescription
<&lt;Less than
>&gt;Greater than
&&amp;Ampersand
"&quot;Double quote
'&#39; or &apos;Single quote/apostrophe
(space)&nbsp;Non-breaking space
©&copy;Copyright symbol
®&reg;Registered trademark

Common Use Cases

  • Code Documentation: Display HTML, XML, or code examples in documentation and tutorials
  • Blog Posts: Show code snippets without them being executed by the browser
  • Form Validation: Sanitize user input to prevent XSS attacks
  • Email Templates: Encode special characters in email HTML
  • API Responses: Safely include HTML content in JSON/XML responses
  • Database Storage: Store HTML content safely in databases
  • CMS Systems: Allow users to input content without breaking the page layout
  • RSS Feeds: Encode content for XML-based feeds

Features

  • Encode and decode simultaneously
  • Real-time conversion as you type
  • Character count for input and outputs
  • Shows size increase/decrease after encoding/decoding
  • One-click copy for both encoded and decoded outputs
  • Common entity reference table
  • Handles all special HTML characters
  • Client-side processing - your data never leaves your browser
  • No installation or sign-up required

Encoding vs Decoding

Encoding (Escaping): Converts special characters to their entity codes. Use this when you want to display HTML code as text or sanitize user input.
Input: <div>Hello</div>
Output: &lt;div&gt;Hello&lt;/div&gt;
Decoding (Unescaping): Converts entity codes back to their original characters. Use this when you need to process or display previously encoded HTML.
Input: &lt;div&gt;Hello&lt;/div&gt;
Output: <div>Hello</div>

Security Note

While HTML entity encoding helps prevent XSS attacks, it should not be your only security measure. Always validate and sanitize user input on the server side, use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers, and follow security best practices for your specific framework or platform.

Privacy & Security

All encoding and decoding happens directly in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never sent to any server or stored anywhere. This ensures complete privacy and security for your data.