Bytelify

HTML Escape

Escape text for safe use inside HTML, live as you type, in either direction.

Runs in your browser, nothing sent
html-escape

Type in either field — the other updates live, both directions. Uses your browser's own HTML parser, so every named and numeric entity is handled correctly, not just the common ones a hand-rolled mapping would cover. Runs entirely in your browser.

Need the opposite? HTML Unescape

What is HTML Escape?

Type text and get it HTML-escaped instantly. The characters that have special meaning in HTML (<, >, &, and more) are converted to their safe entity form, using your browser's own HTML parser for complete correctness.

How to Use the HTML Escape Tool

  1. 1

    Type or Paste the Text: Enter any text, including markup-like characters such as < > & " '.

  2. 2

    Read the Escaped Result Instantly: The HTML-safe entity form appears automatically as you type.

  3. 3

    Copy the Result: Use the copy button to copy the escaped text for safe insertion into an HTML page.

Why Escape Text for HTML

Characters like <, >, and & have special meaning in HTML: a browser reads < as the start of a tag, not a literal character. If text that contains those characters is inserted into a page as-is, it can be misinterpreted as markup, break the page's layout, or, if the text came from user input, open an XSS (cross-site scripting) vulnerability. Escaping converts those characters into their entity form (< becomes &lt;, & becomes &amp;) so the browser displays them as literal text instead of parsing them as markup.

Common HTML Entities

< → &lt; > → &gt; & → &amp; " → &quot; ' → &#39;

Example

HTML
Input: <div class="box">Tom & Jerry</div>

Escaped: &lt;div class=&quot;box&quot;&gt;Tom &amp; Jerry&lt;/div&gt;

Every <, >, &, and " gets replaced with its entity form, so the string can be safely inserted into an HTML page and rendered as literal text rather than parsed as markup.
FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about HTML Escape.

Unescaped special characters can be misinterpreted as markup or, worse, create an XSS vulnerability if the text comes from user input. Escaping makes it safe to display as literal text.

Use HTML Entities to Text Converter to decode escaped text back to plain characters.

Escaping the characters that have special meaning in HTML text content is one important layer, but it isn't a complete XSS defense on its own; context matters (attribute values, inline scripts, and URLs each need their own handling), so use a proper templating system or sanitization library for production security-sensitive code.

A hand-rolled lookup table typically only covers a handful of common entities. Delegating to the browser's actual HTML parsing engine guarantees complete, spec-correct entity handling instead of missing an edge case.

Yes, Bytelify's HTML Escape tool is free with no account or sign-up required.

No. The escaping runs entirely client-side in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere.