What are HTML entities?

HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved characters in HTML. Since characters like , and & have special meaning in HTML, you must use entities (like <, >, &) to display them as literal text on a web page.

When should I use HTML entities?

Use HTML entities when displaying reserved HTML characters ( , &, quotes) in page content, when including special symbols (©, ™, →), and when displaying characters not available on your keyboard. They ensure correct rendering across all browsers.

What's the difference between named and numeric entities?

Named entities use descriptive names (like & for &), while numeric entities use character codes (like &). Named entities are easier to read but not all characters have names. Numeric entities work for any Unicode character.

HTML Entity Encoder / Decoder

Convert special characters to HTML entities or decode entities back to readable text. Supports both named (&) and numeric (&) entities.

Input

Output

About HTML Entities

HTML entities are used to display reserved characters in HTML that would otherwise be interpreted as code. For example, the less-than sign (<) starts an HTML tag, so to display it as text you must write < instead. Entities can be written in named form (like &) or numeric form (like & or &).

Properly encoding HTML entities is essential for preventing XSS (cross-site scripting) vulnerabilities, ensuring your HTML renders correctly, and displaying code snippets on web pages.

Common HTML Entities Reference

Character	Description	Named Entity	Numeric Entity
`&`	Ampersand	`&`	`&`
`<`	Less than	`<`	`<`
`>`	Greater than	`>`	`>`
`"`	Double quote	`"`	`"`
`'`	Single quote / Apostrophe	`'`	`'`
	Non-breaking space	` `	` `
`©`	Copyright	`©`	`©`
`®`	Registered	`®`	`®`
`™`	Trademark	`™`	`™`
`€`	Euro sign	`€`	`€`
`£`	Pound sign	`£`	`£`
`¥`	Yen sign	`¥`	`¥`
`¢`	Cent sign	`¢`	`¢`
`—`	Em dash	`—`	`—`
`–`	En dash	`–`	`–`
`•`	Bullet	`•`	`•`
`…`	Horizontal ellipsis	`…`	`…`
`«`	Left angle quote	`«`	`«`
`»`	Right angle quote	`»`	`»`
`‘`	Left single quote	`‘`	`‘`
`’`	Right single quote	`’`	`’`
`“`	Left double quote	`“`	`“`
`”`	Right double quote	`”`	`”`
`×`	Multiplication sign	`×`	`×`
`÷`	Division sign	`÷`	`÷`
`±`	Plus-minus sign	`±`	`±`
`≠`	Not equal to	`≠`	`≠`
`≤`	Less than or equal	`≤`	`≤`
`≥`	Greater than or equal	`≥`	`≦`
`°`	Degree sign	`°`	`°`

HTML Entity Encoder / Decoder

About HTML Entities

Common HTML Entities Reference

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