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Text to HTML Entities

Convert plain text to HTML entity codes so special characters render as literal text inside HTML documents rather than being interpreted as markup.

Last updated: May 28, 2026

Client-Side Processing
Input Data Stays on Device
Instant Local Execution
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What is Text to HTML Entities?

Text to HTML entities encoding converts characters that HTML assigns special meaning — &, <, >, ", ' — into their entity equivalents (&amp;, &lt;, &gt;, &quot;, &#039;). The resulting string is safe to place in HTML body content, attribute values, and template output without triggering browser parsing or XSS risks.

This is the encode-only direction. When you already have HTML entity codes and want to read the original text, use the HTML Entities to Text tool instead.

How to Use Text to HTML Entities

1

Paste or type your text in the input field

2

Click "Encode to HTML Entities" to convert special characters

3

Copy the output and paste it into your HTML template, CMS, or email body

Common Use Cases

  • Frontend developers encoding dynamic text values before inserting them into HTML attributes or innerHTML.
  • Template authors preparing text content for safe embedding in HTML emails without rendering issues.
  • Documentation writers converting code snippets to entity-encoded form for display in HTML pages.
  • CMS content editors ensuring special characters in article text survive HTML sanitisation correctly.
  • Backend developers encoding API response strings before embedding them in server-rendered HTML pages.

Example Input and Output

Encoding a code snippet for safe display inside an HTML <pre> block.

Plain text
if (a < b && b > c) { return "yes"; }
HTML entities output
if (a &lt; b &amp;&amp; b &gt; c) { return &quot;yes&quot;; }

Reverse direction

To decode HTML entities back to plain text, use the HTML Entities to Text tool.

Browser-side only

All processing runs in your browser. No text is sent to any server.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which characters get encoded?

The five HTML-special characters: & → &amp;, < → &lt;, > → &gt;, " → &quot;, ' → &#039;. Other characters are left as-is.

What is the difference between this and Text to Base64?

Text to HTML Entities converts characters to HTML-safe entity codes for use in HTML contexts. Text to Base64 converts characters to Base64 encoding for use in HTTP headers, APIs, and binary-safe channels.

Does this encode every character as a numeric entity?

No — only the five characters that need escaping in HTML. For full numeric entity encoding of every character, use a dedicated Unicode entity encoder.

Is my text sent to a server?

No. Encoding runs entirely in your browser.

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