OnlineDeveloperTool
Encoders & Decoders

HTML Decoder Online

Decode HTML entities like < and & back into plain characters.

Updated

This tool runs in your browser. No account or signup is required.

Common HTML Decoder tasks

Developers typically reach for this page when they need to decode HTML entities online; convert & and < back to text; HTML unescape encoded text. The tool is built for quick, practical work rather than a generic demo.

What matters in a html decoder workflow

When developers compare online tools for this job, the useful capabilities tend to center on entity decoding, numeric/hex entities, copy/download, examples. This page keeps those practical needs in mind while linking to related tools when a different workflow is a better fit.

What is HTML Decoder?

HTML Decoder turns HTML entities such as < and & back into the characters they stand for.

What problem does it solve?

Encoded values show up in URLs, headers, tokens and logs. Decoding or encoding them by hand is slow, and one wrong character breaks the whole string.

How to use HTML Decoder

  1. Type or paste your input on the left.
  2. The result appears on the right as you type.
  3. Press Copy to grab the output.

Example

Input

<b>Tom & Jerry</b>

Output

<b>Tom & Jerry</b>

What you can do with HTML Decoder

  • HTML decode online
  • Unescape HTML entities
  • Convert &amp; back to &

Common use cases

  • Debugging query strings and redirect URLs
  • Reading values from HTTP headers or config files
  • Preparing text to embed in a URL or HTML page

Related developer tasks

  • HTML decode online
  • Unescape HTML entities
  • Convert &amp; back to &

HTML decoding example

&lt;p&gt;Fish &amp; chips&lt;/p&gt; &copy; 2026

// decoded
<p>Fish & chips</p> © 2026

Which entities are decoded

  • Named entities such as &amp;, &lt;, &gt;, &quot; and &copy;.
  • Numeric entities such as &#169; and &#x1F600;.
  • The browser's own HTML parser does the decoding, so the result matches what a browser would show.

Related: HTML Encoder, URL Decoder, Diff Checker

HTML Decoder FAQ

What if the output is empty?

The tool shows nothing when the input cannot be converted, for example malformed Base64 or a stray % in a URL. Check the input for typos or cut-off characters.

Is encoding the same as encryption?

No. Encoding only changes the representation, and anyone can reverse it. Never use it to protect secrets.

Is my data sent to a server?

The processing runs in your browser, so what you paste into the tool is not uploaded for processing. As with any tool, avoid pasting live secrets you cannot afford to leak.

Can decoding run scripts in my text?

The tool decodes into a textarea element, which treats the content as text, so tags in your input are not run.

Looking for something else? Browse all developer tools.

onlinedevelopertool.com is a collection of 54 free, browser-based utilities for the small jobs that interrupt real work: formatting a JSON response, decoding a token, converting a timestamp, generating a UUID or checking a hash. Each tool has its own page with a short explanation, a worked example and answers to common questions, so you can use it and learn what it does at the same time.

There is no account to create and nothing to install. Tools run in your browser, so the text you paste is processed on your own device. The one exception is the Website Status Checker, which sends a request from your browser to the address you enter.

Three steps: paste your input, click the tool, copy the result, all inside your browser
Popular developer utilities: JWT decoder, UUID generator, Base64 decoder, SHA-256 hash, regex tester and timestamp converter

What you can do here

  • JSON Tools

    Format, validate, beautify and minify JSON, generate C#, TypeScript, Java, Python, Go, PHP and Kotlin models from it, or convert between JSON, YAML and CSV.

  • Encoders & Decoders

    URL, Base64 and HTML encoding and decoding, plus a JWT decoder for reading token claims.

  • Generators & Hashes

    Generate UUIDs and JWTs, validate UUIDs, and create MD5, SHA-256 and SHA-512 hashes.

  • Web Tools

    Timestamps, color codes, query strings and cron expressions - the small things web work keeps throwing at you.

  • Text & Data

    Format XML and YAML, count text, change case, make slugs, test regex, diff two texts and convert number bases.

  • Website Checking

    Check whether a website or URL is reachable from your browser.

Quick developer reference

  • JSON

    Keys and strings must use double quotes, and trailing commas and comments are not allowed. Those are the three most common reasons a payload fails to parse.

    Validate JSON

  • JWT

    A JSON Web Token is three Base64URL parts joined by dots: header, payload and signature. Decoding shows the claims but does not prove the token is genuine; only signature verification does.

    Decode a JWT

  • Base64

    Base64 is an encoding, not encryption. Anyone can reverse it, and it makes data roughly one third larger, so never use it to hide secrets.

    Decode Base64

  • UUID

    A version 4 UUID is made of random bits and written as 8-4-4-4-12 hexadecimal characters. Collisions are astronomically unlikely, which is why they work well as identifiers.

    Generate a UUID

  • Timestamps

    A Unix timestamp counts time since 1 January 1970 UTC. Ten digits usually means seconds and thirteen digits usually means milliseconds.

    Convert a timestamp

  • Hashes

    MD5 is fine for quick checksums but is not safe for security. Prefer SHA-256 or SHA-512, and remember that hashing is one-way and is not encryption.

    Create a SHA-256 hash

Missing a tool you need? Visit the contact page and tell us what you reach for most often. You can also browse every tool or read the About page to see how the site is built and what it does with your data.