What is the difference between named and numeric HTML entities?

A named entity such as © uses a memorable keyword, while a numeric reference such as © or © uses the character's code point in decimal or hex. Numeric references always work, whereas named ones rely on the document recognising that name.

Why do I need to escape ampersand, less-than and greater-than?

The characters &, are structural in HTML, so writing them literally can break parsing. Use &, < and > to display them as text without the browser treating them as markup.

Which entity should I use for an em dash or en dash?

Use — (U+2014) for the long em dash used in sentence breaks, and – (U+2013) for the shorter en dash used in number ranges. Both have numeric equivalents if you prefer.

Are HTML entities the same as URL encoding?

No. HTML entities escape characters for display inside HTML, while URL or percent-encoding (%20, %26) escapes characters for use inside a URL. They serve different layers and are not interchangeable.

Does copying an entity contact a server?

No. The reference table is bundled with the page and filtered locally, and copy uses the browser clipboard API. Nothing you search or copy leaves your device.

HTML Entities Reference

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Quick HTML character reference

HTML entities (character references) let you write characters that would otherwise break markup or be hard to type. This tool lists common HTML5 named references alongside their numeric and hexadecimal equivalents and the glyph each one renders. Search by name, description, glyph or decimal code point, then copy the form you need with one click.

How it works

Each character is stored by its Unicode code point. From that single number the tool derives three interchangeable forms: the named entity &name;, the numeric reference &#decimal;, and the hex reference &#xHEX;. The rendered glyph comes from String.fromCodePoint(cp). All three forms produce the same character in a browser, so you can pick whichever is most readable for your codebase.

Tips and notes

Always escape &, < and > as &, < and > inside text content to keep the parser happy.
Inside attribute values, also escape quotes with " or '.
Numeric references such as € for the euro sign are the safest choice when you are unsure a named entity is supported.
HTML entities are for HTML display only; they are not the same as URL percent-encoding, which escapes characters for use inside links.