BBCode to HTML Converter
Paste BBCode text and get clean HTML output you can use anywhere — copy it to the clipboard or download as an .html file.
Last updated: May 26, 2026
Find this tool useful? Support the project to keep it free!
Buy me a coffeeWhat is BBCode to HTML Converter?
BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) is a lightweight markup language used in online forums, bulletin boards, and community platforms. Tags like `[b]`, `[i]`, `[url]`, and `[quote]` apply formatting that the forum software then renders as HTML when displaying posts.
This converter parses BBCode client-side and outputs the equivalent HTML. It handles the most common tags: text formatting (`[b]`, `[i]`, `[u]`, `[s]`), links (`[url]`), images (`[img]`), quoted blocks (`[quote]`), code blocks (`[code]`, `[pre]`), ordered and unordered lists, inline colour (`[color]`), and font size (`[size]`).
All URL values in `[url]` and `[img]` tags are sanitised to prevent `javascript:` protocol injection. Newlines in the BBCode are converted to `<br>` in the HTML output, matching the way most forum engines render posts.
How to Use BBCode to HTML Converter
Paste your BBCode text into the input panel on the left.
The HTML equivalent appears instantly on the right.
Click Copy to copy the HTML, or Download to save it as converted.html.
Paste the HTML wherever you need it — a CMS, an email template, or a static page.
Common Use Cases
- Migrating old forum posts from a BBCode-based board to a CMS that uses HTML.
- Extracting formatted content from phpBB, vBulletin, or XenForo for use in an email newsletter.
- Converting BBCode-formatted user documentation to clean HTML for a knowledge base.
- Testing how BBCode renders before posting to a live forum.
- Building a tool that accepts BBCode input and needs to output HTML.
Example Input and Output
A short BBCode snippet with a bold title, italic text, and a URL converts to valid HTML.
[b]Hello, World![/b]
[i]Click here:[/i] [url=https://example.com]Example[/url]<strong>Hello, World!</strong><br>
<em>Click here:</em> <a href="https://example.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Example</a>Privacy
All conversion happens locally in your browser. No text is sent to a server.
Nested tags
Most tags can be nested — for example [color=blue][b]blue bold[/b][/color] works correctly. Very deeply nested or unclosed tags may produce unexpected output, just as they would in a real forum engine.
List syntax
Use [list][*]item[/list] for unordered lists and [list=1][*]item[/list] for ordered lists. Each [*] marker starts a new list item.