HTML Entity Encoder / Decoder
Escape special characters so text is safe to place inside HTML, or decode HTML entities back into readable text. You can optionally encode every non-ASCII character as a numeric entity.
Encoding and decoding HTML entities
Certain characters have special meaning in HTML: <, >, &, and quotes. To display them as text rather than markup, they must be encoded as entities (<, >, &). This prevents broken pages and cross-site scripting.
Encoding escapes those characters (and optionally all non-ASCII as numeric entities); decoding turns entities back into readable characters using the browser's own parser, safely and without executing anything. It all runs locally.
How to use HTML Entity Encoder / Decoder
- 1Choose Encode or Decode.
- 2Paste your text or HTML.
- 3For encoding, optionally escape all non-ASCII characters.
- 4Copy the result.
Frequently asked questions
Which characters get encoded?
The five HTML-significant characters (& < > " ') are always encoded; you can also escape every non-ASCII character.
Is decoding safe?
Yes. Entities are resolved with the browser's parser and no HTML is executed; nothing is sent to a server.
Why encode HTML entities?
It prevents characters like < and & from being interpreted as markup, avoiding broken pages and injection issues.