HTML Entity Encoder and Decoder Online
If you've ever tried to display a <script> tag on a web page without it actually running, you know the pain. HTML entity encoding converts special characters like <, >, and & into safe codes that browsers display as text instead of interpreting as markup. Our HTML entity encoder handles this instantly.
Why HTML Entity Encoding Matters
There are two big reasons to care about this:
- Security (XSS prevention) — If user input gets displayed on a page without encoding, attackers can inject malicious scripts. Encoding special characters neutralizes that risk.
- Displaying code on web pages — Want to show HTML code examples in a blog post or tutorial? Without encoding, the browser tries to render it instead of showing it as text.
I've lost count of how many times I've needed to quickly encode a snippet before pasting it into a CMS. It's one of those tasks that's tiny but comes up constantly.
Common HTML Entities You Should Know
The most important ones: < for <, > for >, & for &, " for double quotes, and ' for single quotes. These five cover most security-critical characters.
But there are hundreds more — copyright symbols (©), em dashes (—), non-breaking spaces ( ), and pretty much every special character you can think of.
How to Use the Encoder
Paste your text or HTML into the input box and hit encode. All special characters get converted to their entity equivalents. Need to go the other direction? Switch to decode mode and paste entity-encoded text to get the original characters back.
The tool handles both named entities (like &) and numeric entities (like &). It recognizes all standard HTML5 entities.
When to Encode vs. When to Escape
Quick note — HTML entity encoding and URL encoding are different things. HTML entities are for displaying text safely in HTML. URL encoding (percent-encoding) is for making strings safe in URLs. Don't mix them up — I see this mistake a lot.
For web developers, encoding should be part of your output routine. Any time user-generated content hits the page, encode it first. It's one of the simplest and most effective security practices.
Encode Your HTML Now
Whether you're writing documentation, securing user input, or just trying to show a code snippet, this tool saves you from memorizing entity codes.