HTML Entity Encoder — Encode Special Characters Online

Encode special characters to their HTML entity equivalents (e.g. &, <, >, "). Essential for safe insertion of user content into HTML without XSS risk.

Key Features

Encodes reserved HTML characters (&, <, >, ", ') into safe entity names
Option for named entities (©, €) or numeric entities (©, €)
Configurable mode to encode only syntax characters or all non-ASCII characters
Prevents Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and broken markup in web templates

How to Use

Type or paste your raw text into the input textarea.
Select your encoding scope (Special HTML chars only vs All non-ASCII).
Choose entity format (Named entities or Numeric decimal/hex).
Click "Encode Entities" to generate the entity-encoded string.
Copy the safe HTML code for your templates.

Example

Sample input

<div class="note">Tom & Jerry's "adventure"</div>

Sample output

&lt;div class=&quot;note&quot;&gt;Tom &amp; Jerry&#39;s &quot;adventure&quot;&lt;/div&gt;

Edge Cases

Named vs numeric entities
Already-encoded text double-encoding
Non-ASCII Unicode code points

Frequently Asked Questions

Why must characters like < and > be entity-encoded in HTML?

Browsers interpret "<" and ">" as tag delimiters. Without encoding, user-submitted content can break layout structure or lead to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks.

What is the difference between named and numeric entities?

Named entities use mnemonic names (e.g. < and ©), while numeric entities use decimal (<) or hex (<) code points. Both render identically in all modern browsers.

Is this equivalent to htmlspecialchars() in PHP?

Yes. By default, it encodes the standard five special characters (&, <, >, ", ') identical to PHP’s htmlspecialchars() with ENT_QUOTES.

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