HTML Escape Characters

HTML escape characters (HTML entities) let you display characters that would otherwise be interpreted as code, or that aren't easy to type directly. Every entity starts with & and ends with ; — for example, & renders as &. This reference lists the entities you'll actually use, grouped by category, with their named and numeric forms.

Two ways to write any entity: a named form (©) and a numeric form (© decimal or © hex). Named entities are more readable; numeric entities work for any Unicode character even without a name.

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Reserved Characters (Must Escape)

These have special meaning in HTML and must be escaped to display literally or to avoid breaking your markup.

Character	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
&	&	&	Ampersand
<	&lt;	&#60;	Less-than sign
>	&gt;	&#62;	Greater-than sign
"	&quot;	&#34;	Double quote
'	&apos;	&#39;	Single quote / apostrophe

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Spaces & Punctuation

Character	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
(space)	 	 	Non-breaking space
–	–	–	En dash
—	—	—	Em dash
…	…	…	Horizontal ellipsis
‘	‘	‘	Left single quote
’	’	’	Right single quote
“	“	“	Left double quote
”	”	”	Right double quote
·	·	·	Middle dot
†	†	†	Dagger

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Currency Symbols

Symbol	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
¢	¢	¢	Cent
£	£	£	Pound sterling
€	€	€	Euro
¥	¥	¥	Yen
₹	—	₹	Indian Rupee
$	—	$	Dollar (no escaping needed)

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Common Symbols

Symbol	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
©	©	©	Copyright
®	®	®	Registered trademark
™	™	™	Trademark
°	°	°	Degree
§	§	§	Section
¶	¶	¶	Paragraph (pilcrow)
•	•	•	Bullet

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Math & Technical Symbols

Symbol	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
×	×	×	Multiplication sign
÷	÷	÷	Division sign
±	±	±	Plus-minus
≠	≠	≠	Not equal to
≤	≤	≤	Less than or equal
≥	≥	≥	Greater than or equal
∞	∞	∞	Infinity
√	√	√	Square root
½	½	½	One half
¼	¼	¼	One quarter

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Arrows

Symbol	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
←	←	←	Left arrow
→	→	→	Right arrow
↑	↑	↑	Up arrow
↓	↓	↓	Down arrow
↔	↔	↔	Left-right arrow
⇒	⇒	⇒	Double right arrow

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Accented & Special Letters

Character	Named Entity	Numeric	Description
á	á	á	a with acute
é	é	é	e with acute
ñ	ñ	ñ	n with tilde
ü	ü	ü	u with umlaut
ç	ç	ç	c with cedilla
ø	ø	ø	o with stroke
ß	ß	ß	Sharp s (eszett)

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Golden Rules for HTML Escaping

1. Always escape the big three — <, >, and & — in any content that could be interpreted as markup.
2. Escape quotes inside attributes — use " (or ' for single quotes) when a quote character appears inside an attribute value.
3. Escaping is your first defense against XSS — never inject unescaped user input into HTML. Let your framework or a trusted library escape it.
4. Prefer UTF-8 over entities for regular text — with a UTF-8 charset you can type é or → directly; reserve entities for reserved characters and invisible ones like  .
5. Numeric entities always work — if a character has no named entity, use its numeric (₹) or hex (₹) code point.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are HTML escape characters? They're special codes (HTML entities) that represent characters which are reserved in HTML or hard to type. Each starts with & and ends with ;, such as & for &.

Which characters must be escaped in HTML? At minimum, escape & (&), < (<), and > (>). Inside attribute values, also escape quotes with " or '.

What is the difference between named and numeric entities? Named entities like © are readable but limited to characters that have a defined name. Numeric entities like © work for any Unicode character using its code point, in decimal or hex.

How do I add a non-breaking space in HTML? Use  . It renders as a space that won't collapse or break onto a new line, useful for keeping words or values together.

Why should I escape user input? Unescaped user input can be interpreted as HTML or script, leading to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Escaping reserved characters ensures the input is displayed as text, not executed as code.

Do I still need entities if my page uses UTF-8? For most visible characters, no — you can type them directly. You still need entities for the reserved characters (&, <, >) and for invisible or ambiguous characters like non-breaking spaces.