as input could have it executed by the browser. Encoding converts < and > to entities, so the browser displays the text instead of running it."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"HTML encoding vs URL encoding — what is the difference?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Different contexts, different formats. HTML encoding uses &entity; for safe rendering in HTML markup. URL encoding uses %XX for safe transmission in URLs. You often need both — a URL in an href attribute needs both URL and HTML encoding."}}]}
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HTML Encoder / Decoder

Encode and decode HTML entities

Input
Output
Common HTML Entities
& → &amp;
< → &lt;
> → &gt;
" → &quot;
' → &#39;
© → &copy;
® → &reg;
™ → &trade;
€ → &euro;
£ → &pound;

About HTML Encoder / Decoder

Characters like <, >, &, and " have special meaning in HTML. If you put them directly in page content, the browser tries to parse them as markup. Encoding them as &lt;, &gt;, &amp;, &quot; tells the browser to render them as text. This is the basic mechanism behind XSS prevention — user input that contains <script> tags becomes harmless &lt;script&gt; after encoding. The Decoder reverses the process. Also handles numeric entities (&#60; and &#x3C; both represent <) and all Unicode named entities.

Common Use Cases

  • →Safely displaying user-submitted content in HTML
  • →Encoding code snippets for display in documentation or blog posts
  • →Decoding entities copied from websites or API responses
  • →Preparing content for HTML attributes that contain quote characters

Frequently Asked Questions

What are HTML entities?+
Named or numeric codes representing characters that have special HTML meaning or cannot be typed directly. Start with & and end with ;. Examples: &lt; for <, &amp; for &, &copy; for ©, &nbsp; for non-breaking space.
Why does this matter for security?+
Without encoding, an attacker submitting <script>steal(document.cookie)</script> as input could have it executed by the browser. Encoding converts < and > to entities, so the browser displays the text instead of running it.
HTML encoding vs URL encoding — what is the difference?+
Different contexts, different formats. HTML encoding uses &entity; for safe rendering in HTML markup. URL encoding uses %XX for safe transmission in URLs. You often need both — a URL in an href attribute needs both URL and HTML encoding.