HTML entities encode / decode
Encode or decode < & and similar characters.
About this tool
Encode characters into HTML entities or decode them back to plain text. Essential when you need to show code or symbols literally on a web page.
Why use it
- Escapes characters like less-than and ampersand so markup is not broken.
- Decodes entity-laden text back into readable form.
- Both directions handled instantly and locally.
Common use cases
- Display HTML code as text inside an article.
- Fix text that shows raw entities like ampersand-amp-semicolon.
- Safely embed user input into a template.
Tips
- Always escape user-supplied content before placing it in HTML.
- Only a few characters strictly need encoding; the rest is optional.
How to use
- Paste text.
- Encode or Decode.
- Copy.
FAQ
- What are HTML entities for?
- They safely display characters like <, > and & that would otherwise be read as HTML markup.
- Can I encode and decode both ways?
- Yes, escape raw text into entities or unescape entities back into characters.
- Is my text sent to a server?
- No. Everything is processed locally in your browser.
- When should I escape HTML?
- Whenever you insert user text into a page to prevent broken layout or injection.
- Does it cover named and numeric entities?
- Yes, common named entities and numeric references are handled.
- Will it touch normal letters?
- No, only characters that need escaping are converted.