What Is HTML Encoding?

HTML encoding (or HTML escaping) converts special characters into their corresponding HTML entities so they are displayed as text rather than interpreted as HTML markup. This is critical for:

• Preventing XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attacks — Never render raw user input in HTML without encoding it first.
• Displaying code snippets — When showing `<div>` or `<script>` in a web page, you must encode the angle brackets.
• Handling special characters in content — Characters like `&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, and `'` have special meaning in HTML and must be escaped in text content.
• Email HTML templates — Safe HTML encoding prevents rendering issues across email clients.

Common HTML Entity Encodings

HTML Encoding vs. URL Encoding

HTML encoding produces entities like `&amp;` and `&lt;`, used for safe HTML document rendering. URL encoding produces percent-encoded values like `%26` and `%3C`, used for safe URL transmission. Make sure you're using the right encoding for your context.