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How to Decode HTML Entities to Plain Text

A straightforward workflow for converting escaped HTML back into readable content.

Step 1

Paste HTML-Escaped Input

Add text containing HTML entities such as <, >, &, and " following HTML entity and WHATWG named character rules. The tool opens in decode-first mode.

Best Inputs

Escaped HTML fragments copied from APIs or CMS exports.
Database values stored with HTML entity encoding.
Scraped content where markup is represented as entities.

Example Input

&lt;div class=&quot;note&quot;&gt;Hello &amp; welcome&lt;/div&gt;

Step 2

Decode Entities Instantly

As you type, entities are converted to their original characters. This is useful for quickly inspecting original content before validating or reformatting based on W3C character reference syntax and broader character escaping guidance.

Common Entity Mappings

< -> <

> -> >

& -> &

" -> "

Example Output

<div class="note">Hello & welcome</div>

Step 3

Copy, Download, or Switch Mode

Copy decoded output into your editor, export as file, or switch to encode mode when you need to convert plain text back into HTML entities while avoiding accidental XSS rendering issues.

Next-Step Options

Validate resulting markup with the HTML Validator.
Format output with HTML Formatter.
Convert decoded content to text via HTML to Text.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HTML entity decoding?

It turns escaped entities like & and < back into the literal characters they stand for, following the HTML rules for named and numeric character references.

Does it decode double-escaped text twice?

No. Each entity is decoded once, so &lt; comes out as the text <, not as <. If your text was escaped twice, paste the result back in to decode the second layer.

What happens to numeric references and broken entities?

Decimal and hex references both work, including emoji such as 😀 or 😀. References that point outside Unicode or at a surrogate (&#1114112;, &#xD800;) become the replacement character U+FFFD, the same as in a browser. Text that is not an entity is left exactly as it was, line endings included.

Is this the same as URL decoding?

No. HTML entity decoding handles entity references, while URL decoding handles percent-encoded URL segments defined in RFC 3986.

Is this processed server-side?

No. The conversion happens in your browser, and the decoded result is only ever shown as plain text, so any markup or script in it is never rendered or run.