HTML Encoder/Decoder
Encode and decode HTML entities online free — convert special characters to HTML entities and back for safe web rendering.
Last updated: 10 October 2026
Encode special characters to HTML entities and decode them back — named entities and numeric references both supported. Encoding a script-tag alert produces fully escaped angle brackets and quotes; decoding © and — returns the original symbols.
HTML Encoder / Decoder
Reference:
& → &< → <> → >" → "' → 'Worked Examples
Tested round-trip
- script-tag with alert quotes → lt/gt/quot entities, fully escaped
- © 2026 — All rights reserved → © 2026 — All rights reserved
- Double-encoded input (&lt;) decodes one level per pass
Why it matters
- Escaping user content before rendering it in HTML blocks XSS injection.
- Ampersands in visible text must be & or the parser treats the following word as an entity.
- Attribute values need quotes escaped even when the tag itself looks safe.
Video Guide
About HTML Encoder/Decoder
Encode and decode HTML entities online. Convert special characters like <, >, &, and quotes to their HTML entity equivalents (<, >, &, ", ') and vice versa. Supports both named entities and numeric character references (e.g., <). Test data: encoding '<script>alert("xss")</script>' produces '<script>alert("xss")</script>' — the dangerous angle brackets and quotes are fully escaped. Decoding '© 2026 — All rights reserved' returns the original symbols correctly.
Limits: Does not handle attribute-value encoding for all edge cases — manual review recommended for complex attributes; Cannot encode non-HTML contexts like JavaScript strings or URL parameters; Double-encoded input requires multiple decode passes; Very large HTML documents (1MB+) may have a brief processing delay
Who Uses This Tool
- A web developer encoding user-submitted comments to safely display them in an HTML page without XSS risk
- A content manager pasting HTML snippets into a CMS that escapes output, needing to pre-encode the entities
- A QA engineer decoding HTML entities in a captured HTTP response to inspect the original unescaped content
Key Features
- Encode special characters to HTML entities
- Decode HTML entities back to text
- Supports named entities (<, >, &, ", ')
- Supports numeric character references (<, <)
- One-click copy to clipboard
- Handles full HTML documents or snippets
How to use HTML Encoder/Decoder
- Enter your HTML code or plain text in the input area.
- Click 'Encode' to convert special characters to entities, or 'Decode' to reverse.
- Copy the result to your clipboard.
How It Compares
Unlike htmlencoder.org which requires a page reload and only supports one-way encoding, this tool provides bidirectional encode/decode in one interface. It also handles numeric character references that many free tools ignore — w3schools.com's reference shows the entities but doesn't offer an interactive encoder.
Privacy & Security
Because processing happens directly in your browser, your files and input are not uploaded to our servers.
Written and checked by Mohammad Sohail
Encoding round-trips re-checked on 10 October 2026 with the sample payloads.
About FreeDigitalToolkit →Frequently Asked Questions
When do I need HTML encoding?
When displaying user-submitted content in HTML, you must encode characters like < and & to prevent XSS (cross-site scripting) attacks and to ensure the browser renders text instead of interpreting it as markup.
What's the difference between encoding < and <?
Both represent the same character. Named entities like < are easier to read; numeric references like < work for any Unicode character. The encoder supports both — the decoded output uses named entities for common characters.
Does this handle double-encoding?
Yes, the decoder can handle double-encoded input. For example, '&lt;' decodes to '<' on the first pass and then to '<' on a second decode. Be careful not to accidentally double-encode when injecting content into HTML.
Will encoding break my HTML layout?
No. Encoding only affects characters that have special meaning in HTML (tags, ampersands, quotes). Regular text, spaces, and line breaks pass through unchanged. The layout remains intact.
Can I encode only a specific part of my HTML?
Yes. Paste just the portion you want to encode — the tool processes whatever text you provide. You can encode a full document or a single character.
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