Encode HTML Entities - HTML Entity Encoder

Encode text into HTML entities online for free with this HTML entity encoder. The tool converts reserved and special characters — angle brackets, ampersands, quotes, symbols — into their corresponding HTML entity codes so the text is safe to display inside an HTML document. Perfect for developers, content creators, and anyone publishing code snippets or user input on the web. Paste your text and get the encoded version in seconds.

Encoding is essential when you want to show HTML or code on a page rather than have it render — writing <div> requires encoding the angle brackets so the browser displays them instead of treating them as a tag. To reverse the process, use the HTML Entities Decoder.

Why Encode HTML Entities?

An HTML entity encoder prevents two of the most common web bugs at once: broken rendering and cross-site scripting (XSS). When user input or code snippets are pasted into a page without encoding, characters like <, >, and & are interpreted as markup, which either mangles the display or, in the worst case, lets an attacker inject a script. Encoding those characters as named or numeric entities turns them into inert text.

This escape HTML online tool is also useful when writing documentation, blog posts, or tutorials that show source code — every tag, attribute, and inline script must be encoded so it appears as literal text rather than executing in the browser. Because the conversion runs entirely client-side, you can encode sensitive configuration, credentials, or proprietary markup without ever uploading it.

Live Example

Reserved characters like <, >, &, and " become entity codes so they display as text instead of being parsed as markup:

<a href="x">Tom & Jerry © 2026</a>

<a href="x">Tom & Jerry © 2026</a>

How to Use HTML Entities Encoder

1. Paste Your Text: Enter or paste the text you want to encode into the input area.
2. Choose an Encoding Type: Switch between encoding by entity name or by entity number.
3. Encode Automatically: The tool instantly converts special characters into safe HTML entity codes.
4. Copy or Download: Copy the encoded output to your clipboard or download it as a file.

Key Features

• ✅ Encode HTML entities by entity number (e.g., <)
• ✅ Encode HTML entities by entity name (e.g., <)
• ✅ Convert special characters to safe HTML entities
• ✅ Switch between name and number encoding
• ✅ Copy encoded output to clipboard
• ✅ Download encoded output as a text file

Common Use Cases

• Displaying Code: Safely show HTML or code samples inside web pages without them rendering as live markup.
• XSS Prevention: Encode user input so special characters cannot be interpreted as executable HTML.
• Content Publishing: Prepare text with symbols for blogs, docs, and CMS editors.
• Email Templates: Encode reserved characters to keep HTML email markup valid.

Benefits of Using Our Tool

• ✅ Free to use with no registration required
• ✅ Instant, real-time encoding
• ✅ Choose entity names or numbers
• ✅ Keeps your content safe and correctly rendered
• ✅ Private - all processing happens in your browser

About HTML Entities

An HTML entity is an escape sequence that represents a character which is either reserved in HTML or hard to type. Reserved characters — <, >, &, ", and ' — have special meaning to the parser (they start tags or attributes), so to display them literally you must encode them. There are three forms: a named entity (<, ©), a decimal numeric entity (<, ©), and a hexadecimal numeric entity (<, ©). All three render identically.

Encoding is the foundation of safely displaying code samples and of basic XSS prevention. When you echo untrusted input into a page, encoding < and & stops an attacker from injecting a <script> tag that the browser would execute. Note that HTML entity encoding is a different job from URL encoding, which uses %-sequences for characters in a URL, and from Base64, which encodes arbitrary bytes — each scheme solves a different escaping problem.

The encoder lets you switch between named and numeric output, since some contexts (older email clients, certain CMSes) handle one form more reliably than the other. Numeric entities work for any Unicode code point, while named entities cover the common symbols. After tidying encoded markup you can compress it with the HTML Minifier or reformat it with the HTML Beautifier.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• Double-encoding entities (e.g., <): Encoding strings that already contain entity codes converts the leading ampersand, producing nested escape sequences. Always ensure your source input contains raw characters before applying entity conversion.
• Confusing URL query encoding with HTML entity escaping: Do not use HTML entities (such as &) inside API parameter payloads or raw HTTP request strings. Use URL percent-encoding (%26) for query parameters.
• Unescaped attributes inside single or double quotes: If you insert user values into HTML attributes (e.g. title="..."), both single quotes (' or ') and double quotes (") must be escaped to avoid attribute breakout attacks.
• Relying on HTML entities to sanitize inline JavaScript: HTML entity encoding does not protect against XSS inside <script> blocks or event handlers (e.g., onclick). In script contexts, characters must be JSON-serialized or Unicode-escaped.

Essential HTML Entity Reference Chart

The following characters represent reserved syntax in HTML5 documents and must be escaped to prevent parsing errors and script injection:

How to Encode HTML Entities in Code

Implement robust HTML sanitization and encoding across backend endpoints and client applications:

function escapeHtml(rawString) {
  const htmlMap = {
    '&': '&',
    '<': '&lt;',
    '>': '&gt;',
    '"': '&quot;',
    "'": '&#39;'
  };
  return String(rawString).replace(/[&<>"']/g, char => htmlMap[char]);
}

import html

def escape_html(raw_string: str) -> str:
    # quote=True escapes both single and double quotes
    return html.escape(raw_string, quote=True)