HTML Decode: Convert Entities Back to Characters
9 min read
HTML entities (e.g. < & ") represent special characters. Sometimes you have encoded HTML and need to see or process the plain characters. Decoding converts entities back to their character form. This guide explains when to decode and how to do it in your browser.
What HTML Decoding Does
The tool takes text that contains HTML entities (named or numeric) and replaces them with the corresponding characters. So < becomes <, & becomes &. The result is plain text that may be easier to read, edit, or feed into another tool.
When to Decode
- Inspecting HTML: See the raw characters behind encoded markup.
- Cleaning or transforming: Prepare text for a context that does not use HTML entities.
- Debugging: Understand what is actually stored or sent when entities are present.
Use Our Tool
Our HTML Decode converts HTML entities back to plain characters. Paste encoded HTML and get readable text. Runs in your browser. Useful when cleaning or inspecting HTML.