What is HTML decoding?

HTML decoding is the reverse of HTML encoding: it turns entities such as < and & back into the characters they stand for (< and &). It is useful when you process HTML content in code.

What are numeric HTML entities?

Numeric entities use decimal (<) or hexadecimal (<) code points to represent characters. Both forms are decoded by this tool, for example, < and < both decode to <.

Does this tool handle all named HTML entities?

Yes. This tool decodes all standard named HTML entities including , ©, ®, —, and hundreds more defined in the HTML5 specification.

Why does decode to something that looks like a space?

decodes to U+00A0, the non-breaking space. It looks like a normal space but is a different character, so a search for a plain space will not find it.

What happens to tags in the input?

Tags stay as text. The decoder escapes every Tom & Jerry decodes to Tom & Jerry with the tags untouched and nothing rendered.

HTML decode

Convert HTML entities back to their original characters. Paste HTML-encoded text and get the plain-text version where <, >, &, and " are converted back to <, >, &, and ".

Mode:

Encoded HTML0 chars

Decoded text

0 chars

COMMON ENTITIES

©©

®®

™™

€€

——

……

How it works

Encoding runs five replace calls in a fixed order, & first so the entities it inserts are not escaped a second time, turning &, <, >, " and ' into &, <, >, " and '. Decoding lets the browser's own HTML parser reverse the process: the text, with every < escaped first, is parsed inside a detached <textarea>, which never creates elements. Both run entirely in your browser.

Processing runs in your browser

All encoding and decoding happens locally in your browser tab. Our servers are not involved at any point.

Related operations

For percent-encoding URL components, try URL encode. To encode binary blobs or images as text, use Base64. For previewing escaped markup, see the Markdown preview.

Frequently asked questions

What is HTML decoding?: HTML decoding is the reverse of HTML encoding: it turns entities such as < and & back into the characters they stand for (< and &). It is useful when you process HTML content in code.
What are numeric HTML entities?: Numeric entities use decimal (<) or hexadecimal (<) code points to represent characters. Both forms are decoded by this tool, for example, < and < both decode to <.
Does this tool handle all named HTML entities?: Yes. This tool decodes all standard named HTML entities including  , ©, ®, —, and hundreds more defined in the HTML5 specification.
Why does   decode to something that looks like a space?:   decodes to U+00A0, the non-breaking space. It looks like a normal space but is a different character, so a search for a plain space will not find it.
What happens to tags in the input?: Tags stay as text. The decoder escapes every < before the browser parses the input, so <b>Tom & Jerry</b> decodes to <b>Tom & Jerry</b> with the tags untouched and nothing rendered.

Last reviewed September 30, 2026

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