WHATWG HTML named references
HTML Entities Reference
Named and numeric escapes that render reserved or special characters, from a non breaking space to arrows and math symbols.
At a glance
Key factsStandard
Syntax
Ampersand, name, semicolon
Numeric form
Decimal or hex code point
Must escape
Less-than, greater-than, ampersand, quote
Where it comes from
HTML named character references are defined by the WHATWG HTML Standard, so a browser resolves them the same way everywhere. An entity begins with an ampersand and ends with a semicolon. Named entities use a memorable word, while numeric entities use the character's Unicode code point in decimal or hex, and numeric forms work for any character even when no named form exists.
How to use it
Escape the characters HTML treats as markup: the less-than and greater-than signs so text is not read as a tag, the ampersand so it is not read as another entity, and quotation marks inside attribute values. On a UTF-8 page you can often insert other symbols directly, but those four still need escaping and numeric entities remain the dependable fallback.
This page is a standing summary. For the interactive tool and the full tables, open the html entities page. The data here is compiled from HTML named character references, defined by the WHATWG HTML Standard.