HTML Entities
The named and numeric codes for the characters HTML reserves or hides. Search the set, see how each one renders, and copy the entity you need.
| Glyph | Named | Numeric | Description | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| < | < | < | Less-than sign | Markup |
| > | > | > | Greater-than sign | Markup |
| & | & | & | Ampersand | Markup |
| " | " | " | Double quotation mark | Markup |
| ' | ' | ' | Apostrophe / single quote | Markup |
| |   | Non-breaking space | Spacing | |
| © | © | © | Copyright sign | Symbols |
| ® | ® | ® | Registered trademark | Symbols |
| ™ | ™ | ™ | Trademark sign | Symbols |
| € | € | € | Euro sign | Currency |
| £ | £ | £ | Pound sterling | Currency |
| ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | Yen sign | Currency |
| ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | Cent sign | Currency |
| ° | ° | ° | Degree sign | Symbols |
| ± | ± | ± | Plus-minus sign | Math |
| × | × | × | Multiplication sign | Math |
| ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | Division sign | Math |
| − | − | − | Minus sign | Math |
| ≠ | ≠ | ≠ | Not equal to | Math |
| ≤ | ≤ | ≤ | Less-than or equal to | Math |
| ≥ | ≥ | ≥ | Greater-than or equal to | Math |
| ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | Infinity | Math |
| – | – | – | En dash | Punctuation |
| — | — | — | Em dash | Punctuation |
| ‘ | ‘ | ‘ | Left single quote | Punctuation |
| ’ | ’ | ’ | Right single quote | Punctuation |
| “ | “ | “ | Left double quote | Punctuation |
| ” | ” | ” | Right double quote | Punctuation |
| … | … | … | Horizontal ellipsis | Punctuation |
| • | • | • | Bullet | Punctuation |
| ← | ← | ← | Leftwards arrow | Arrows |
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | Upwards arrow | Arrows |
| → | → | → | Rightwards arrow | Arrows |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | Downwards arrow | Arrows |
| ↔ | ↔ | ↔ | Left-right arrow | Arrows |
| ♥ | ♥ | ♥ | Black heart suit | Symbols |
| ♠ | ♠ | ♠ | Black spade suit | Symbols |
| ♣ | ♣ | ♣ | Black club suit | Symbols |
| ♦ | ♦ | ♦ | Black diamond suit | Symbols |
| ¼ | ¼ | ¼ | One quarter | Math |
| ½ | ½ | ½ | One half | Math |
| ¾ | ¾ | ¾ | Three quarters | Math |
| § | § | § | Section sign | Symbols |
| ¶ | ¶ | ¶ | Pilcrow / paragraph sign | Symbols |
| † | † | † | Dagger | Punctuation |
| ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | Double dagger | Punctuation |
Click a named entity to copy it. The glyph column shows how it renders.
Why HTML entities exist
HTML uses a handful of characters as structure. The less-than and greater-than signs delimit tags, the ampersand opens an entity, and quotation marks bound attribute values. If you want any of those characters to appear as literal text rather than markup, you have to escape it, and an entity is how you do that. The named character references are defined by the WHATWG HTML Standard, so a browser resolves them the same way everywhere.
Entities also give you a portable way to write characters that are awkward to type or that might not survive a copy and paste, from a non breaking space to a mathematical symbol or an arrow. On a UTF-8 page you can often insert those characters directly, but the four markup sensitive characters still need escaping, and numeric entities remain the dependable fallback when a named form does not exist.
The four you must always escape
- The less-than sign, so text is not read as the start of a tag.
- The greater-than sign, for symmetry and to avoid edge cases.
- The ampersand, so it is not read as the start of another entity.
- The double quotation mark inside attribute values.
Frequently asked questions
FAQWhat is an HTML entity?
An HTML entity is an escape sequence that represents a character which is either reserved in HTML or hard to type. It begins with an ampersand and ends with a semicolon, for example the named form for a copyright sign or the numeric form using a code point. The browser renders the entity as the intended character.
When do I have to use entities?
You must escape the characters that HTML treats as markup. Write the less-than and greater-than entities so a browser does not read them as a tag, and escape the ampersand so it is not read as the start of another entity. Inside attribute values you should also escape quotation marks.
What is the difference between named and numeric entities?
A named entity uses a memorable word between the ampersand and semicolon. A numeric entity uses the character's Unicode code point, in decimal or in hex with an x prefix. Numeric entities work for any character, while named ones exist only for a defined set, so numeric is the reliable fallback.
Do I still need entities if my page is UTF-8?
For most symbols, no. A UTF-8 page can contain a euro sign or an em dash directly. You still must escape the four markup sensitive characters, the less-than sign, greater-than sign, ampersand, and quotation marks inside attributes, because those change how the HTML is parsed.