HTML Symbols & Entities Reference

Searchable table of 200+ HTML entities. Click any row to copy — entity name, number, or raw character.

Copy as:
200+ entities — Click any row to copy
Char Named Entity Numeric Description Category

About HTML Entities

HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved characters, symbols, and characters that are difficult to type. They consist of an ampersand (&), an entity name or number, and a semicolon (;). For example, & displays an ampersand, < displays a less-than sign, and © displays a copyright symbol.

Why HTML Entities Matter

The HTML specification reserves certain characters for markup: < starts a tag, > ends a tag, and & starts an entity. If you want to display these characters as content, you must escape them. Using raw < in HTML content will break the page — the browser will attempt to parse it as a tag. Entities prevent this ambiguity.

Named vs. Numeric Entities

Named entities (&copy;, &trade;, &mdash;) are memorable and readable but only exist for a limited set of characters. Numeric entities work for any Unicode character: the decimal form (&#169;) and the hexadecimal form (&#xa9;) both produce ©. In HTML5 with UTF-8 encoding, most characters can be typed directly, but entities remain useful for portability and readability.

Essential Entities for Every Developer

The most commonly needed entities in everyday HTML development are: &amp; for & in text, &lt; and &gt; for angle brackets in code examples, &nbsp; for non-breaking spaces, &copy; for copyright notices, &mdash; and &ndash; for dashes in typography, &ldquo; and &rdquo; for typographic quotation marks, and &trade; or &reg; for trademark and registered symbols.

Arrows and Mathematical Symbols

HTML entities include a rich set of arrows and mathematical operators that are useful for technical documentation, equations, and UI indicators. The arrows category includes simple directional arrows (→, ←, ↑, ↓), double arrows (⇒, ⇐), and special-purpose arrows. Mathematical entities cover operators like ∑ (summation), ∏ (product), √ (square root), ∫ (integral), ≤, ≥, ≠, ≈, ∞, and many more. Greek letters are complete from α to ω plus their uppercase counterparts.

Typography Best Practices

Professional typography on the web relies on a few key entities. Use &mdash; (—) for em dashes instead of two hyphens (--), which was a typewriter convention. Use &ldquo; and &rdquo; ("curly quotes") instead of straight quotes (") for readable body text. Use &ndash; for number ranges (pages 12–15) and &times; for multiplication (3 × 4) rather than the letter x. These small details significantly improve reading quality in published content.

Frequently Asked Questions

An HTML entity is a special string for characters with HTML meaning or that can't be typed directly. They start with & and end with ;. Named entities (&amp;) and numeric entities (&#38;) both produce the same character. They ensure special characters display correctly without conflicting with HTML tags.
&amp; is the named entity for &. &#38; is the decimal numeric entity for the same character (Unicode point 38). &#x26; is the hex equivalent. Named entities are more readable; numeric entities work for any Unicode character even without a named alias.
You must escape <, >, and & in HTML content. In attribute values, also escape " or ' as needed. Other characters like © and — can be typed directly in UTF-8 HTML5, though entities improve portability.
A non-breaking space (&nbsp;) prevents a line break at that position. Use it between a number and its unit (5 kg), between names, or after abbreviations (Dr. Smith). It also prevents collapsing of multiple spaces.
An en dash (–, &ndash;) is used for ranges: pages 10–20. An em dash (—, &mdash;) is used for parenthetical statements — like this — or breaks in thought. A hyphen (-) is for compound words like well-known.