HTML Encoder - Free Online HTML Entity Encoder Tool

Using the Professional Character Encoder

Paste your raw text or HTML snippet into the input area.
Click Encode to convert special characters - &, <, >, and quotes - to their HTML entity equivalents.
Switch to Decode mode to reverse the process: paste HTML entities and recover the original text.
Copy the output with one click or download it as a plain text file.

HTML Encoder is a critical security utility for developers needing to escape HTML content for safe browser rendering. HTML entity encoding replaces characters that have special meaning in markup - such as <, >, and & - with safe escape sequences like <. This prevents XSS injection, fixes rendering bugs, and is essential when embedding user-supplied text inside an HTML template. The character to entity converter runs client-side, ensuring your data remains private.

Preventing XSS and Markup Breakage

You need an HTML entity encoder whenever you are inserting dynamic text into a web page. Without it, a value like <script>alert(1)</script> becomes executable JavaScript. This tool provides an easy way to escape characters that would otherwise be interpreted as tags. The decoder is equally useful: raw HTML source downloaded from a site often contains encoded entities that need to be read back as their original characters for further processing and analysis.

Encodes & < > " ' - all five XSS-relevant characters
Decodes all named entities ( , ©) and numeric references (©)
Handles large multi-paragraph inputs without truncation
Copy-to-clipboard and .txt download built in

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between HTML encoding and URL encoding?

HTML encoding replaces characters with named or numeric entities for safe use inside HTML markup. URL encoding (percent-encoding) encodes characters for safe use inside URIs. They use completely different escape sequences - < vs %3C for the same < character.

Which characters must be encoded in HTML?

At minimum: & (as &), < (as <), and > (as >). Quotes " and ' should also be encoded when the text appears inside an attribute value.

Does encoding double-encode if I encode already-encoded text?

Yes - this tool encodes literally, so < would become &lt;. Always decode first if your input might already be encoded, then re-encode cleanly.

Is this safe for sensitive content like passwords?

All processing happens in your browser's JavaScript engine. Nothing is sent to any server, making it safe for any content including credentials or private text.

Check out our other formatting utilities like the HTML Decoder, HTML Formatter, and the HTML Entity Encoder. Bookmark this page for the next time you need a fast and secure HTML Encoder.

HTML Encoder online

Encode text to HTML entities and decode HTML entities back to text