Is this html entity converter really free?

Yes, you can use it as much as you want without paying or creating an account. There are no hidden tiers or paywalls blocking the core functionality.

How to decode HTML entities that look broken?

Paste the broken string into the input box and select decode. If the output still shows entity names, run it through the decoder a second time to resolve double-encoded characters.

Does it work on mobile browsers?

The interface is fully responsive. You can paste text, toggle the encoding direction, and copy the result directly from your phone or tablet browser.

Is there a limit to the input size?

The browser handles the string processing locally, so you can paste large blocks of text. Extremely massive files might cause your specific browser tab to lag.

Why did my text turn into literal question marks?

Your original text likely contained characters outside the basic Latin set, and your terminal or editor did not support UTF-8. Ensure your environment uses Unicode before pasting the result.

HTML entity converter

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Encode or decode HTML entities instantly. This free HTML entity converter translates special characters to named or numeric equivalents. No signup is needed.

How the html entity converter works

Browsers interpret raw ampersands as the start of an entity. If you feed them a bare ampersand followed by text that does not resolve, they guess. You use this tool to force exact rendering. It takes your raw text and swaps characters like angle brackets for their named equivalents. The reverse process takes those references and rebuilds the original Unicode string.

You have two encoding styles to choose from. Named entities are readable but limited to the HTML specification. Numeric references cover the entire Unicode range. Hexadecimal references start with an x prefix and are standard in XML. Decimal references just use the base integer. The converter handles both directions without dropping data or corrupting the byte sequence.

When you need to encode html entities

Developers hit this wall when building email templates. Email clients strip out raw markup if they are not properly escaped. You paste your code into the converter to see exactly what the mail server will receive. Security teams also use this when auditing cross-site scripting payloads. Seeing the encoded version of a script tag proves whether a filter actually caught it.

Frontend developers need this when injecting dynamic strings into JavaScript blocks. A raw quote inside an inline event handler will break the attribute boundary. Content managers face the same issue with legacy platforms that choke on curly quotes. You convert the text to numeric entities before pasting it into the editor. The database stores the safe representation.

Limits of this online html entity converter

This tool processes text, not parsed document trees. If you paste a massive document, it will encode every single tag. You will end up with a wall of encoded div tags instead of a working webpage. Use a proper parser if you need to manipulate the structure. The converter just does blind string replacement.

Double encoding is a common trap. If you run already-encoded text through the encoder again, the ampersand entity becomes a literal string of characters. The browser will display the word instead of the symbol. Always check your input first. If you need to know how to decode HTML entities that look mangled, run them through the decoder twice.

Does not parse or validate HTML structure.
Will double-encode if you run the same text twice.
Ignores custom XML entities outside the standard HTML set.

How to use the html entity converter

Paste your raw text or encoded string into the input box.
Select either encode or decode from the action menu.
Choose named or numeric format if you are encoding text.
Click the convert button to process the string.
Copy the resulting output from the bottom text area.

Common HTML entity reference

Here is a quick lookup for the characters you will encode most often.

Character	Named Entity	Numeric Entity
	<	<
>	>	>
&	&	&
"	"	"
'	'	'

Frequently asked questions

Is this html entity converter really free?: Yes, you can use it as much as you want without paying or creating an account. There are no hidden tiers or paywalls blocking the core functionality.
How to decode HTML entities that look broken?: Paste the broken string into the input box and select decode. If the output still shows entity names, run it through the decoder a second time to resolve double-encoded characters.
Does it work on mobile browsers?: The interface is fully responsive. You can paste text, toggle the encoding direction, and copy the result directly from your phone or tablet browser.
Is there a limit to the input size?: The browser handles the string processing locally, so you can paste large blocks of text. Extremely massive files might cause your specific browser tab to lag.
Why did my text turn into literal question marks?: Your original text likely contained characters outside the basic Latin set, and your terminal or editor did not support UTF-8. Ensure your environment uses Unicode before pasting the result.