HTML Escape & Unescape Tool
Escape HTML special characters to prevent XSS and display code safely, or unescape strings back to their original form. A must-have for web developers.
HTML Escape / Unescape
Convert special characters to HTML entities and back
Common HTML Entities
How the HTML Escape and Unescape Tool Works
This tool converts between plain text and HTML-encoded text. Escape mode converts special characters to HTML entities (like < for <). Unescape mode converts entities back to their original characters. It handles both named entities and numeric character references.
Escape and Unescape Process
- Select escape mode (text to entities) or unescape mode (entities to text)
- Enter your content in the input area
- Click the convert button to process
- Escape mode converts: &, <, >, ", ', and more
- Unescape mode handles named ( ) and numeric ( ) entities
- Copy the converted result for use in your project
- Use the swap button to quickly switch modes
Specific Use Cases
Code Example Display
A developer writing a tutorial needs to show HTML tags as text on a webpage. Escaping <script> prevents the browser from executing it as actual code.
XSS Prevention
A web application escapes user input before displaying it. This prevents malicious scripts from executing, protecting against cross-site scripting attacks.
XML Data Preparation
Someone preparing data for XML export escapes special characters. This ensures ampersands and angle brackets don't break the XML structure.
Database Content Recovery
A developer finds HTML entities stored in a database instead of plain text. Unescaping converts © back to © for proper display.
API Response Processing
An API returns HTML-encoded content. Unescaping before display ensures users see proper characters instead of entity codes.
What to Know Before Using This Tool
Understanding HTML encoding:
- Five characters must be escaped in HTML: & < > " '
- Named entities (©) are more readable than numeric (©)
- Escaping is essential for displaying code examples safely
- Double-escaping can occur if already-encoded text is encoded again
- Some entities represent special symbols (currency, math, punctuation)
- UTF-8 encoding reduces the need for character entities
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between escape and encode?
In this context, they're the same - converting special characters to HTML entities. "Escape" emphasizes preventing interpretation, while "encode" emphasizes format conversion.
Why escape ampersands specifically?
Ampersands start entity references in HTML. An unescaped & in "Tom & Jerry" could be misinterpreted as the start of an entity. Always escape as &.
When should I unescape HTML entities?
Unescape when you need actual characters for processing, storing in databases, or displaying in non-HTML contexts like plain text files or terminal output.
Does escaping affect SEO?
Search engines decode entities before indexing. "café" and "café" are treated the same as "café". Use entities for HTML validity, not SEO.
What about non-ASCII characters?
Modern HTML5 with UTF-8 handles most characters directly. Entities are mainly needed for the five special characters or when character encoding is uncertain.
Can I escape JavaScript with this tool?
This tool is for HTML entities only. For JavaScript escaping, use dedicated JSON.stringify() or JavaScript-specific escaping tools.
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