Encode characters into HTML entities or decode entities back to text. Uses the browser’s own parser, so nothing is uploaded.
Encode text into HTML entities, or decode entities back to characters. Runs in the page.
What the HTML entities tool does
Two buttons do the work: Encode turns characters such as <, > and & into their safe HTML entity form, and Decode turns entities back into the characters. It is handy when you need to display code samples on a page or clean up copied markup.
Frequently asked questions
When do I need encoding?
When you want angle brackets or ampersands to show as text rather than be treated as HTML tags or entities by a browser.
Does decode handle numeric entities?
Yes. Both named entities like ' and numeric forms such as © are resolved back to their character.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The work happens in the page using the browser’s own HTML parser.
How to use it
- Paste or type your text into the
input: Paste text or HTML here…field. The field accepts plain text, HTML markup, or a mix of both. - Click the Encode button to convert special characters such as
<,>and&into their named or numeric entity equivalents. - Click the Decode button to convert entities back into plain characters. Switch between encode and decode as needed without clearing the inputs.
- Copy the converted output from the
input: Result appears here…field and paste it into your document, CMS, or code editor.
Where it comes in handy
When you write a blog post that includes a code example containing fewer than 50 tag pairs, encoding the markup keeps the angle brackets visible in the browser rather than being interpreted as live HTML. Paste the snippet, encode it, and the rendered output shows the actual tags on screen.
Email templates for HTML newsletters often contain ampersands in query strings—typically around 10 to 20 per signature block. Decoding those entities before editing, then re-encoding after saving, prevents broken links caused by double-encoded & sequences.
When bulk-processing a CSV export of 200 rows where cell values contain characters like é or copyright symbols, running each value through decode first lets you clean the data before re-encoding it for safe insertion into an HTML page.
Worth knowing
- The tool uses the browser’s built-in HTML parser. If you paste malformed HTML with unclosed tags, the parser may silently reorder or drop elements during decode, producing output that differs from the original markup structure.
- Named entities are resolved to their closest Unicode character, but some legacy named entities (such as
«and») may map to characters your target browser does not render correctly on older systems. - Encode uses named entities by default when a valid name exists (e.g.,
<instead of<). If your system requires numeric-only entities for strict validation, you will need a second pass or a different tool.