What is an HTML entity?

An HTML entity is a text sequence that starts with & and ends with ; representing a special character. For example < represents < and & represents &. Browsers render entities as their corresponding characters without treating them as markup.

What entity formats does this tool support?

Named entities (&, <, ©), decimal numeric references (<), and hexadecimal numeric references (<) are all fully supported in both encode and decode modes.

Does this tool send my text to a server?

No. All processing runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is transmitted to any server.

Why decode HTML entities?

CMS exports, email clients, and APIs often return HTML-escaped text. Decoding lets you read, process, or display the actual content rather than the raw entity strings.

What is the difference between named and numeric entities?

Named entities use a readable label like & or ©. Numeric entities reference the Unicode code point directly — either in decimal (&) or hexadecimal (&). Numeric entities work for any Unicode character, including those without a named form.

HTML Entity Decoder / Encoder

Name: HTML Entity Decoder / Encoder
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Decode HTML entities (&amp;, &, &) back to plain text, or encode plain text into safe HTML entities.

Encoded HTML

Decoded Text

Converted

Input chars

Output chars

Common HTML Entity Reference

Char	Named	Decimal	Hex	Description

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Summary

Decode HTML entities (&amp;, &, &) back to plain text, or encode plain text into safe HTML entities.

How it works

Select Decode to convert HTML entities to plain text, or Encode to escape special characters.
Paste or type your content into the input panel.
Click Run or let the tool process automatically as you type.
For encoding, choose Named (&amp;), Decimal (&), or Hex (&) output format.
Copy the output or use Swap to feed output back as new input.

Use cases

Decode entity-escaped text from a database or CMS export before processing.
Fix double-encoded HTML from email clients or content management systems.
Safely encode user-generated content before inserting it into HTML templates.
Convert numeric entity references (< or <) to human-readable form.
Prepare text for HTML email by encoding accented characters to portable entities.
Verify encode/decode round-trips to confirm no data loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: 2026-05-23 · Reviewed by Nham Vu