What is HTML escaping?

HTML escaping converts special characters like & into HTML entities (< > &) so they display as text instead of being interpreted as HTML code.

When should I escape HTML?

Escape HTML when displaying user input on websites to prevent XSS attacks, or when you want special characters to appear as text rather than code.

What does unescape do?

Unescape converts HTML entities back to their original characters. For example, < becomes < and & becomes &.

Which characters are escaped?

The tool escapes: (greater than), & (ampersand), " (double quote), and ' (single quote).

Is this tool safe for sensitive content?

Yes, all processing happens in your browser. No data is sent to any server.

Can I use this for XML?

Yes! HTML entities work in XML as well. Both formats use the same entity encoding for special characters.

What's the difference between HTML encoding and URL encoding?

HTML encoding handles characters that have special meaning in HTML ( & " '). URL encoding handles characters that can't appear in URLs. Use our URL Encode tool for URL-specific encoding.

Does this handle Unicode characters?

Yes, this tool properly handles Unicode characters including emojis and international text. Special HTML characters are escaped while other Unicode remains unchanged.

HTML Escape / Unescape

Convert special characters to HTML entities and back. Essential for web development, preventing XSS attacks, and displaying code safely.

Escape mode: Converts <, >, &, ", ' to HTML entities

Input

Paste HTML or code here

0chars0lines

Escaped Output

Your processed text

0chars0lines

Why Use an HTML Escape Tool?

HTML escaping is essential for web security and proper content display. When you display user-generated content, code snippets, or any text containing special HTML characters (< > & " '), you must escape them to prevent browsers from interpreting them as actual HTML markup. This protects against XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attacks and ensures your content displays correctly.

Our free HTML escape tool instantly converts special characters to their HTML entity equivalents, making your content safe for web pages, emails, RSS feeds, and any HTML/XML context. The unescape function reverses this process, converting entities back to readable characters when you need to edit or process escaped content.

Common Use Cases

🛡️XSS Prevention & Security

Escape user input before displaying it on web pages to prevent malicious script injection. Essential for comment systems, forums, and any user-generated content.

💻Displaying Code Snippets

Show HTML, JavaScript, or XML code examples on your website without the browser executing them. Perfect for documentation and tutorials.

📧Email Templates

Escape special characters in HTML email content to ensure proper rendering across different email clients.

📰RSS/XML Feeds

Escape content for RSS feeds and XML documents where special characters must be encoded to validate correctly.

How HTML Escaping Works

HTML escaping replaces characters that have special meaning in HTML with their entity equivalents:

Character	HTML Entity	Description
<	<	Less than (starts HTML tags)
>	>	Greater than (ends HTML tags)
&	&	Ampersand (starts entities)
"	"	Double quote (attribute values)
'	'	Single quote/apostrophe

Tips for Best Results

1.Always escape on output, not input. Store original data and escape when displaying.
2.Don't double-escape. If text is already escaped, unescaping then re-escaping will produce the same result.
3.Use context-appropriate escaping. HTML escaping is for HTML contexts. For URLs, use URL encoding.
4.Test with malicious input. Try escaping strings like <script>alert('xss')</script> to verify.

Frequently Asked Questions

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