Convert special characters into safe HTML entities, or decode entity codes back into readable text, instantly,
right in your browser. Useful for cleaning up copy before pasting it into HTML, debugging garbled text on a
web page, or making sense of a scraped feed full of & and ’ codes.
| Character | Entity Name | Numeric | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| & | & | & | Ampersand | |
| < | < | < | Less than | |
| > | > | > | Greater than | |
| “ | " | " | Double quote | |
| ‘ | ' | ' | Single quote / apostrophe | |
|   | Non-breaking space | ||
| © | © | © | Copyright | |
| ® | ® | ® | Registered trademark | |
| ™ | ™ | ™ | Trademark | |
| — | — | — | Em dash | |
| – | – | – | En dash | |
| … | … | … | Horizontal ellipsis | |
| € | € | € | Euro sign | |
| £ | £ | £ | Pound sign | |
| ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | Yen sign | |
| ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | Cent sign | |
| ° | ° | ° | Degree sign | |
| ± | ± | ± | Plus-minus sign | |
| × | × | × | Multiplication sign | |
| ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | Division sign | |
| → | → | → | Right arrow | |
| • | • | • | Bullet |
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- Choose Encode or Decode using the radio buttons at the top of the tool.
- To encode: paste plain text into the input box. Any reserved character (
&,<,>, quotes) and non-ASCII character (like accented letters, emoji, or symbols) is converted to a safe HTML entity. Check “Named entities only” if you want just the five reserved characters escaped, leaving accented letters and Unicode symbols untouched. - To decode: paste text containing entity codes (like
&or’) and it converts back to readable plain text. - Use the Swap button to reverse input and output: handy for verifying a round trip.
- Click Copy Output to grab the result, or click any entity in the reference table below to copy it directly.
What Are HTML Entities and Why Do They Matter?
HTML entities are text codes that represent characters which either have special meaning in HTML (like
< and >, which define tags) or aren’t easily typed on a standard keyboard
(like © or —). Instead of typing the character directly, you write a code such as < or
©, and the browser renders the actual symbol.
- They prevent broken markup. If you paste a raw
<or&into an HTML page without encoding it, browsers can misinterpret it as the start of a tag or entity, breaking the layout. - They protect against injection issues. Escaping user-submitted text before displaying it in HTML is a basic defense against markup being interpreted as code.
- They preserve special characters reliably. Curly quotes, em dashes, and trademark symbols can get mangled across different encodings: entities guarantee the correct character renders everywhere.
Common Use Cases for Marketers & Content Creators
You’ll run into HTML entities more often than you’d expect when publishing content:
- Cleaning up copy from a CMS or feed that shows raw
’or codes instead of the actual characters. - Pasting text with special characters: trademarks, copyright notices, currency symbols, into an HTML email template or landing page builder.
- Debugging why an ampersand or quote in a page title or meta tag is breaking your markup.
- Preparing scraped or exported content for re-publishing, where entity-encoded text needs to be converted back to plain, readable copy.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between named and numeric entities?
Named entities use a readable code like © for the copyright symbol. Numeric entities use the character’s Unicode code point, like © for the same symbol. Both render identically in a browser, named entities exist only for a limited, well-known set of characters, while numeric entities can represent any character.
Do I need to encode every character, or just a few?
Strictly, only five characters need encoding in HTML to avoid breaking markup: &, <, >, ", and '. Encoding additional Unicode characters (accented letters, symbols, emoji) is optional but can help avoid display issues on systems with inconsistent character encoding support.
Is this tool safe to use with pasted HTML content?
Yes. Decoding uses the browser’s built-in HTML parser in an isolated, inert document that never executes scripts or loads external resources, it only extracts the readable text. Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded to a server.
Why does my decoded text look different from what I expected?
If the input contains malformed or partially-encoded entities (e.g. a stray & that isn’t part of a valid entity), the decoder will leave it as-is rather than guessing. Double-check that entity codes are complete and correctly formatted, ending in a semicolon.
Is this tool free to use?
Yes, completely free with no account required and no usage limits.
Sources
- MDN Web Docs, “Character reference“, accessed September 2026.
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