HTML Encoder / Decoder
Encode text to HTML entities or decode HTML entities back to plain text — instantly and privately.
Updated June 2026
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How to use the HTML Encoder / Decoder
- 1
Paste your text or HTML
Drop plain text into the box to encode it, or encoded markup containing entities to decode it.
- 2
Pick Encode or Decode
Use the Encode tab to escape characters into HTML entities, or the Decode tab to convert entities back to text.
- 3
Copy the result
Your converted output appears instantly. Hit Copy result to grab it. Nothing is saved.
About this tool
HTML encoding replaces characters that have special meaning in markup — the ampersand (&), less-than (<), greater-than (>), double quote ("), and apostrophe (') — with their HTML entity equivalents such as &, <, >, ", and '. Encoding these characters is essential whenever you display user-supplied text inside a page, because it prevents the browser from interpreting the input as markup and stops a whole class of cross-site scripting (XSS) bugs.
This tool works both ways. Choose Encode to escape raw text into safe HTML entities, or Decode to turn entities — including named ones like , numeric references like ©, and hex references like 😀 — back into the original characters. The decoder understands every form a browser does, so content copied out of HTML round-trips cleanly back to plain text.
Front-end developers, technical writers, and anyone pasting code samples into a CMS reach for an HTML encoder constantly. Because this one runs entirely client-side, your text is never sent to a server, logged, or stored — making it safe for snippets, tokens embedded in attributes, and any content you would rather keep private.
Examples
Input
<a href="x">Tom & Jerry</a>
Output
<a href="x">Tom & Jerry</a>
Encode: < > " and & all become entities. The ampersand is escaped first so entities are never double-encoded.
Input
5 < 10 && 10 > 5
Output
5 < 10 && 10 > 5
Decode: named entities < > and & are converted back to their original characters.
Input
2026 © 😀
Output
2026 © 😀
Decode also resolves the named entity plus decimal (©) and hexadecimal (😀) numeric character references.
Common uses
- Front-end developers escaping user-generated content before rendering it in HTML to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
- Technical writers and bloggers pasting code samples into a CMS or markdown file and needing to show literal < > & characters instead of having them parsed as tags.
- Support engineers decoding HTML entities copied out of a rendered page or email back into readable plain text.
- Developers embedding text inside an HTML attribute (such as a title or alt value) who must escape quotes so the markup stays valid.
- QA and security testers crafting or inspecting encoded payloads while reproducing and verifying entity-encoding bugs.
- Anyone migrating content between systems and round-tripping text through encode and decode to confirm it survives unchanged.
Frequently asked questions
Is this HTML encoder free?+
Yes. It is completely free with no sign-up, no limits, and no watermarks.
Is my data uploaded or stored anywhere?+
No. Both encoding and decoding happen locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device, which makes it safe for sensitive snippets.
Which characters does it escape?+
Encoding escapes the five HTML-significant characters: & becomes &, < becomes <, > becomes >, " becomes ", and ' becomes '. The ampersand is escaped first so entities are never double-encoded.
Why does HTML encoding matter for security?+
Displaying unescaped user input lets attackers inject markup and scripts, causing cross-site scripting (XSS). Encoding special characters into entities makes the browser render them as text instead of executing them.
What entities can the decoder handle?+
It decodes the named entities amp, lt, gt, quot, apos, and nbsp, plus any decimal (©) or hexadecimal (😀) numeric character reference back to its original character.
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Embed this tool
Free to use on your own site — it stays fast and private for your visitors.
Paste this where you want the tool to appear:
<iframe src="https://hypercho.com/embed/html-encoder" title="HTML Encoder / Decoder by Hypercho" width="100%" height="560" style="border:1px solid #d8cec3;border-radius:16px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px sans-serif"><a href="https://hypercho.com/tools/html-encoder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HTML Encoder / Decoder</a> by <a href="https://hypercho.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hypercho</a></p>