HTML Entity Encoder & Decoder

Encode and decode HTML entities. Convert special characters to &, <, > and decode them back.

Free Always No Account Needed 100% Client-Side

HTML with special chars

HTML-encoded output

&lt;div class=&quot;example&quot;&gt;Hello &amp; World! &lt;script&gt;alert(&quot;xss&quot;)&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Common entities: < (<) · > (>) · & (&) · " (") · '(')

About this tool

HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved characters and symbols in HTML. For example, the less-than sign < must be written as < in HTML to avoid being interpreted as a tag.

This tool encodes/decodes: - Reserved characters: < > & " ' - Extended ASCII and Unicode characters: © ® ™ € - Numeric character references: < (decimal) and < (hex) - All named HTML5 entities (over 2,000 named entities)

Use cases: Escaping user-generated content before inserting into HTML (XSS prevention), debugging HTML source, converting characters for safe inclusion in XML/RSS feeds, and displaying code examples in HTML.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need HTML entities?

HTML reserves certain characters (<, >, &, ") for markup. To display them as literal characters, you must use their entity equivalents.

What is XSS and how do entities help?

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) is an attack where malicious scripts are injected via user input. HTML-encoding user input before displaying it prevents script injection.

What's the difference between & and &?

Both represent the & character. Named entities (&) are readable; numeric entities (& decimal, & hex) work for any Unicode character.

Should I use entities or CSS escape for non-breaking space?

Use   in HTML content. In CSS content property, use \00a0. In JavaScript, use \u00A0.

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