HTML Entities

HTML Entities

Some characters are special in HTML, and some can't be typed easily. HTML entities solve both problems!

What is an entity?

An entity is a special code that stands for a character. It starts with & and ends with ;.

&lt;  stands for <
&gt;  stands for >
&amp; stands for &

The big three you MUST know

If you write < or > directly in text, the browser might think you're writing a tag! Use entities instead:

<p>2 is less than &lt; 3</p>
<p>5 is greater than &gt; 4</p>
<p>Tom &amp; Jerry</p>

More useful entities

• ": double quote "
• ' (or '): single quote '
•  : a non-breaking space (keeps words together!)
• ©: copyright ©
• ®: registered ®
• ™: trademark ™
• €: euro sign €
• £: pound sign £
• ¥: yen sign ¥

Non-breaking space ( )

  is a space that never lets the words split across lines. Use it to keep "10 km" or "Chapter 5" together.

<p>It's about 10&nbsp;km away.</p>

Number entities

You can also use numbers: A is the character number 65, which is "A".

<p>&#65; is the letter A</p>

TL;DR

• Entities start with & and end with ;.
• Use <, >, & for <, >, &.
•   is a space that keeps words together.
• ©, €, ® and friends type special symbols.
• Number entities like A use character numbers.