HTML Entity Decoder Online
Decode HTML entities back to their original characters instantly in your browser. This free tool runs entirely client-side, keeping your data private and processing fast.
HTML Entity Encoder & Decoder
Encode special characters as HTML entities or decode entities back to text. Fast, private, and free.
Common HTML Entities
| Character | Named | Numeric | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| & | & | & | Ampersand |
| < | < | < | Less than |
| > | > | > | Greater than |
| " | " | " | Double quote |
| ' | ' | ' | Single quote |
| ␣ | |   | Non-breaking space |
| © | © | © | Copyright |
| ® | ® | ® | Registered trademark |
| ™ | ™ | ™ | Trademark |
| € | € | € | Euro sign |
| £ | £ | £ | Pound sign |
| — | — | — | Em dash |
| – | – | – | En dash |
| … | … | … | Ellipsis |
| ° | ° | ° | Degree |
| × | × | × | Multiply |
| ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | Divide |
| → | → | → | Right arrow |
Quick Reference
Minimal mode encodes only the 5 characters that are special in HTML/XML: & < > " '. Use this when your text contains HTML tags or attributes.
All Characters mode also encodes every non-ASCII character (accented letters, symbols, emoji) using named entities where available, or numeric codes. Use this when you need pure ASCII output.
Decoding recognizes named entities (&), decimal codes (©), and hex codes (©).
How HTML entity decoding works
HTML entity decoding converts encoded references back into their original characters. Named entities like & become &, numeric entities like < become <, and hex entities like < also become <. The decoder handles all standard HTML5 named entities as well as arbitrary numeric and hexadecimal character references.
Common use cases for HTML entity decoding
Developers decode HTML entities when extracting clean text from web scraped content, processing HTML-encoded data from APIs or databases, converting encoded email content to readable text, and cleaning up data that has been double-encoded. It is a common step in web scraping and data cleaning pipelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is double-encoded HTML and how do I fix it?
Double encoding happens when already-encoded entities get encoded again, producing results like &amp; instead of &. Running the decoder twice (or until the output stops changing) resolves this issue.
Does the decoder handle all HTML5 named entities?
Yes. The decoder supports all 2,231 named character references defined in the HTML5 specification, including common ones like , ©, —, and €.