Why are there multiple entity formats for the same character?

HTML5 supports named entities (©), decimal numeric (©), and hex numeric (©) references. All render identically but named entities are more readable while numeric works for any code point.

When should I use numeric entities over named ones?

Use numeric references for characters without a named entity, when targeting strict XML/XHTML (which only defines five named entities), or when you need a guaranteed-unambiguous code point reference.

Does the lookup send my search anywhere?

No. The entity table ships with the page and lookups happen entirely in your browser.

240+ entities · named · decimal · hex · live

Browse HTML entities

Search every common HTML entity by name or character. One click copies the named, decimal, or hex form. All processing runs locally.

HTML Entity Lookup

Entities

indexed

Visible

all

All names

388 B

concatenated

Status

ready

live

entity · named

™

…

—

–

‘

’

“

”

•

†

‡

‰

♠

♣

♥

♦

←

↑

→

↓

↔

∞

≠

≤

≥

∑

∏

√

€

✓

entity · numeric

Quick Start

How to look up entities

Browse common HTML entities, filter by name or character, and copy the form you need.

01
Scan list
60+ frequently-used entities pre-indexed.
Bytes flow through TextEncoder/TextDecoder for predictable UTF-8 semantics — emoji, surrogate pairs, and combining marks all encode losslessly.
browseUTF-8TextEncoderlosslesslive
rows · raw bytes60 · UTF-8
```
amp lt gt …
```
loaded · UTF-8MIME · ready
02
Filter
Type a fragment of the name or the actual character.
Hash and signature operations call crypto.subtle from the Web Crypto API, so output matches OpenSSL / Node bit-for-bit.
searchWeb Cryptosubtledeterministiclive
q · optionscopy · live
```
copy → ©
```
options applied · livelive
03
Pick a form
Named, decimal, or hex — all three are one click away.
Options re-run instantly through useEffect + useMemo — switching URL-safe mode or padding doesn’t re-encode from scratch.
formmemoisedoptionsinstantreactive
forms · encoded3 · ready
```
&copy;
&#169;
&#xa9;
```
encoded · livelossless
04
Copy
One click to clipboard.
Copy uses the Async Clipboard API; downloads ship via Blob with the appropriate MIME (text/plain, image/png, …) so external tools recognise them.
copyclipboardblobMIME-correctclient-side
ok · copiedready · done
```
Copied
```
shipped · ready to shipsuccess

Pro tips

Encoding without surprises

Always UTF-8 first

Use TextEncoder / TextDecoder for bytes ↔ string conversion. btoa alone breaks on non-ASCII.

URL-safe vs standard Base64

Standard uses +, /, =; URL-safe swaps to -, _, no padding. Don’t mix them.

Hashes aren’t passwords

SHA-256 is fast; that’s good for fingerprints, bad for passwords. Use bcrypt / argon2 for credentials.

Watch padding rules

Some decoders are strict about = padding, others auto-pad. If round-trips fail at exactly 1 or 2 bytes, check padding.

Use Web Crypto for keys

Generate cryptographic keys via crypto.subtle, never Math.random. The latter is predictable.

JWT decode ≠ verify

Decoding a JWT just splits and base64-decodes. Verification needs the issuer’s public key / shared secret.

Use Cases

When to reach for entity lookup

Typography, accessibility, content writing.

Smart punctuation

Insert curly quotes, em-dashes, ellipses correctly. Output round-trips losslessly with the matching decoder — both run client-side, so end-to-end testing happens in a single tab. Encoding flows through TextEncoder for predictable UTF-8 semantics.

RFC-compliant

Math symbols

≤ ≥ ≠ ∞ √ in static HTML without webfonts. Web Crypto's subtle.digest produces output that matches OpenSSL, GPG, and Node's crypto module byte-for-byte. That makes the result trustworthy as a content fingerprint, ETag, or integrity check.

OpenSSL-matched

Copyright marks

© ® ™ for footers and bylines. Pairs cleanly with HMAC, JWT, and signed-URL workflows where bit-level correctness matters. The browser's crypto stack is FIPS 140-validated in Chrome and Firefox, so it's production-grade.

lossless

Source examples

Show literal < and & in code samples. Output uses canonical RFC 4648 / 7515 alphabets so curl, openssl, and any standards-compliant decoder accept it as input. URL-safe variants drop padding for tokens that travel in query strings.

byte-identical

Email templates

Older clients prefer entities over UTF-8. Heavy hashing runs through useMemo so large inputs don't block typing. PBKDF2, bcrypt, and Argon2 expose configurable cost factors — tune for your threat model, not the default.

spec-grade

Internationalisation

Diacritics, arrows, fractions — no extra fonts. Same input plus same options always yields identical bytes. That's the foundation for content-addressed storage (IPFS, Git, S3 ETags) and means the output is safe to commit to fixtures.

i18n

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is this the full HTML5 entity list?

It's the ~60 most commonly needed. HTML5 defines roughly 2,200 named entities; for the long tail use HTML Encoder in numeric mode.

Named, decimal, or hex?

Named is most readable. Decimal/hex work in every renderer regardless of HTML version — preferable for email and tooling.

Why is apostrophe ' not '?

' is XML; older HTML4 renderers don't know it. Numeric ' is universal.

Can I copy more than one?

Click 'Copy all' to get the concatenated named list. For specific subsets, filter first then click each form.

Is anything sent to a server?

No. The list is static and lookup runs locally in your browser.

Suggest a tool

Something missing?

Tell us what you need. We ship the top requests every two weeks.

47 in queue·8 shipped this month

Request queued. Thanks!