What is the difference between ' and '?

Both represent the apostrophe. ' is valid in XML and HTML5 but was not part of HTML 4; ' (numeric) works everywhere, which is why many encoders emit the numeric form.

Why does my text contain < instead of <?

Double encoding: the string was HTML-escaped twice (common when a template escapes already-escaped data). Decode twice to recover the original, then fix the escaping at the source.

TASK

Read HTML entities in pasted text

Turn & < ' and friends back into real characters — and know when NOT to decode.

1

HTML Entity Decoder →
Paste text containing entities (& < > " ' ' and numeric forms). The output replaces each entity with its actual character, including non-ASCII code points.
2

Know your entities: named entities cover the XML/HTML specials plus a large catalog (© —  ); numeric forms are either decimal (') or hexadecimal (') and always map to a Unicode code point. If the output shows stray characters where text should be, the source was double-encoded — &lt; decodes to < on the first pass; run it again only after confirming the intended data.
3

When NOT to decode: text destined for HTML output should stay encoded — decoding user-supplied content and then rendering it unescaped is the classic XSS injection path. Decode for reading and analysis; keep encoding for storage and display.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ' and '?: Both represent the apostrophe. ' is valid in XML and HTML5 but was not part of HTML 4; ' (numeric) works everywhere, which is why many encoders emit the numeric form.
Why does my text contain &lt; instead of <?: Double encoding: the string was HTML-escaped twice (common when a template escapes already-escaped data). Decode twice to recover the original, then fix the escaping at the source.