Online HTML Entity Encoder

Escape special characters to HTML entities to make text safe for HTML (prevents breaking markup).

Loading tool...

How to use

Paste or type your input in the left editor
Adjust options in the toolbar if available
Copy or download the output from the right pane

This free online tool runs entirely in your browser. No sign‑up, no server uploads.

About HTML Encode

Escape special characters to HTML entities to make text safe for HTML (prevents breaking markup).

The HTML encoder scans your input string character by character, replacing each character that has special meaning in HTML with its corresponding entity reference. The five critical characters (&, <, >, ", ') are always converted. Optionally, non-ASCII characters are replaced with numeric character references (&#nnnn;) to ensure safe display across all character encodings and browsers.

Use the left editor to enter your data. The output updates in real time. You can copy, clear, download, or expand either pane.

Tip: Use the search bar to quickly switch between tools.

Sample HTML

<div class="note">Tom & Jerry</div>

Example input shown above. Output appears in the right pane instantly.

Why this tool?

Feature	HTML Encode	Typical alternatives
Free online tool	Yes	Often yes
Client‑side only (privacy)	Yes	Varies
No sign‑up required	Yes	Varies

Explore related tools

Looking for more? Browse All tools or check categories like Beautifier, Minifier, and Validators.

Related tools

FAQs

What characters does the HTML encoder convert?

The encoder converts characters that have special meaning in HTML: < becomes <, > becomes >, & becomes &, " becomes ", and ' becomes '. It can also encode all non-ASCII characters to their numeric entity equivalents.

Why do I need to HTML encode text?

HTML encoding prevents cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by ensuring user-supplied text is treated as literal content, not executable HTML or JavaScript. Any text displayed in a web page that originates from user input should be encoded first.

Does the encoder convert Unicode characters to HTML entities?

Yes. The encoder can convert Unicode characters to their numeric HTML entities (e.g., the em dash becomes —). This ensures correct display even in pages where the character encoding is not set to UTF-8.

What is the difference between HTML encoding and URL encoding?

HTML encoding converts characters to HTML entities for safe display in web pages. URL encoding (percent encoding) converts characters to percent-hex sequences for safe inclusion in URLs. They serve different purposes and are not interchangeable.

Can I encode an entire HTML document?

Yes, but typically you encode text content that will be inserted into HTML rather than encoding an entire document. Encoding a full document would convert all tags to visible entity text, which is useful for displaying HTML source code on a web page.