---
title: "HTML Entities Reference"
description: "Free HTML entities reference. Search 40+ common entities by name, character, description, or tag. Copy named, numeric, or hex form instantly."
url: https://devzap.io/tools/html-entities/
category: html
status: live
pricing: Free
---

# HTML Entities Reference

> Searchable list of HTML entities. Copy named, numeric, or hex form with one click.

Free HTML entities reference. Search 40+ common entities by name, character, description, or tag. Copy named, numeric, or hex form instantly.

## How to use

1. **Search any entity** — Type a name, character, description, or tag. Results filter live.
2. **Copy in any format** — Click any cell — named, numeric, or hex — to copy. A toast confirms.

## FAQ

### When should I use HTML entities vs Unicode characters?

Modern UTF-8 encoded HTML can include most characters directly. Use entities for the five reserved characters (&, <, >, ", ') in attributes and text where they could be misinterpreted, and for non-breaking spaces or invisible characters where readability matters.

### What's the difference between named, numeric, and hex forms?

All three encode the same character. Named (&amp;) is human-readable but limited to entities the spec defines. Numeric (&#38;) and hex (&#x26;) work for any Unicode codepoint and are more verbose.

### Why does &nbsp; matter?

&nbsp; (non-breaking space) prevents line breaks between words you want to keep together — like 'page 1' or '5 km'. Designers also use it for visual spacing tweaks; that's a code smell, but it works.

### Do entities work everywhere?

Inside HTML content and attributes, yes. They do NOT work inside <script>, <style>, or other parsed contexts.

## Background

## Why HTML entities still matter

HTML entities solve two problems: encoding reserved characters that would otherwise be parsed as markup, and handling characters that are hard to type directly. UTF-8 has erased most of the second category — you can paste an em-dash directly into your HTML — but the first remains essential.

Forget to encode `&` in an attribute and your link breaks. Forget to encode `<` in user-generated text and you've shipped an XSS vulnerability.

## The five you must remember

`&amp;` for `&`, `&lt;` for `<`, `&gt;` for `>`, `&quot;` for `"`, and `&apos;` for `'`. Everything else is a nice-to-have.

## Use cases

- **Email templates**: HTML in email is even fussier than in browsers. Always encode reserved characters.
- **Static site generators**: most SSGs encode automatically, but check when authoring inline HTML in markdown.
- **CMS escapes**: when storing user-generated content, encode on output, never on input.