Development
HTML Entities
Convert special characters, accented letters and HTML code into entities – named, decimal or hexadecimal – or decode entities back into readable text. With hints on errors and a character table to copy from.
- Runs entirely in your browser
- No data upload
- No sign-up
- Free
Text
HTML
Character table
Click a character to copy the entity in the selected notation.No character found. But every character works numerically: &# + Unicode number + ;
Guide
How it works
- Choose the direction
“Encode” turns characters such as <, & or é into HTML entities, “Decode” turns entities back into normal text.
- Set the scope
“Required only” encodes just & < > and quotes – that is enough to insert text safely into HTML. “+ Non-ASCII characters” additionally converts everything outside ASCII, “Everything” every character except letters and digits.
- Choose the notation
Named entities such as é are the most readable. For characters without a name (such as emojis), the number is used automatically. Decimal (é) or hexadecimal (é) works for every character.
- Look up characters
The character table contains all common entities – by group or via search. A click copies the entity.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need entities for accented letters today?
Usually not. If the page is saved and served as UTF-8 (<meta charset="utf-8">), é, ü, ñ and € can be written directly in the HTML. Entities are only required for characters with a special meaning: & and < in text and quotes in attribute values.
What is the difference between é, é and é?
All three result in “é”. é is the name, é the Unicode number in decimal and é the same number in hexadecimal. Not every character has a name, but every character has a number.
Why is ' written as '?
The entity ' only exists since HTML5 and XHTML – older browsers and some email clients do not know it. ' works everywhere.
What does “without semicolon” mean?
Browsers also recognize some old entities such as © or é without a closing semicolon – but not in every context, e.g. in links. The tool points this out so you can add the semicolon.
Does encoding protect against XSS?
Encoding & < > " and ' is the most important step to output text safely in HTML. However, it is only sufficient for text content and quoted attribute values – not for JavaScript, CSS or URLs in attributes such as href. In PHP, htmlspecialchars() does the job.
Is my input stored?
No. Everything happens locally in your browser, nothing is sent to the server.