Free Tool

HTML Entity Encoder / Decoder

Encode special characters to HTML entities (< & ") or decode entities back to plain text. Essential for web developers and security.

Input Text

What are HTML Entities?

HTML entities are special character sequences used to display reserved HTML characters safely in a web page. For example, < represents < and & represents &. Without encoding, these characters would be interpreted as HTML tags or syntax.

Common HTML Entities

< → < (less-than)
> → > (greater-than)
& → & (ampersand)
" → “ (double quote)
' → ‘ (single quote / apostrophe)

When to Use HTML Entity Encoding

Displaying code snippets on a web page without them being parsed as HTML
Storing HTML in a database or JSON field safely
Preventing Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in web applications
Embedding user-generated content in HTML templates

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between HTML encoding and URL encoding?

HTML encoding replaces characters with named entities (<, &) for safe display in HTML documents. URL encoding replaces characters with percent sequences (%3C, %26) for safe transmission in URLs. Use each in its appropriate context.

Does this tool encode all special characters?

This tool encodes the five most critical characters: < > & " '. These cover the vast majority of XSS prevention needs. For full Unicode entity encoding, additional characters like non-ASCII symbols can also be represented as numeric entities.