Cheat Sheet · Free Reference
HTML Entities / Reference.
Complete HTML character entity reference with names, numbers, and descriptions.
Searchable, copyable, always up to date.
Essential
Characters that must be escaped in HTML to avoid breaking markup.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
& | & | & | Ampersand |
< | < | < | Less-than sign |
> | > | > | Greater-than sign |
" | " | " | Double quotation mark |
' | ' | ' | Single quotation mark (apostrophe) |
| |   | Non-breaking space |
Punctuation
Typographic punctuation marks, quotation marks, and legal symbols.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
© | © | © | Copyright sign |
® | ® | ® | Registered trademark |
™ | ™ | ™ | Trademark sign |
· | · | · | Middle dot |
• | • | • | Bullet |
… | … | … | Horizontal ellipsis |
‘ | ‘ | ‘ | Left single quotation mark |
’ | ’ | ’ | Right single quotation mark |
“ | “ | “ | Left double quotation mark |
” | ” | ” | Right double quotation mark |
– | – | – | En dash |
, | — | — | Em dash |
§ | § | § | Section sign |
¶ | ¶ | ¶ | Pilcrow (paragraph sign) |
† | † | † | Dagger |
‡ | ‡ | ‡ | Double dagger |
Math & Logic
Mathematical operators, comparison signs, set theory, and logic symbols.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
+ | + | + | Plus sign |
− | − | − | Minus sign |
× | × | × | Multiplication sign |
÷ | ÷ | ÷ | Division sign |
= | = | = | Equals sign |
≠ | ≠ | ≠ | Not equal to |
< | < | < | Less-than sign |
> | > | > | Greater-than sign |
≤ | ≤ | ≤ | Less-than or equal to |
≥ | ≥ | ≥ | Greater-than or equal to |
∞ | ∞ | ∞ | Infinity |
∑ | ∑ | ∑ | Summation (sigma) |
∏ | ∏ | ∏ | Product (pi) |
√ | √ | √ | Square root |
∝ | ∝ | ∝ | Proportional to |
≈ | ≈ | ≈ | Approximately equal to |
≡ | ≡ | ≡ | Identical to (equivalent) |
∧ | ∧ | ∧ | Logical AND |
∨ | ∨ | ∨ | Logical OR |
¬ | ¬ | ¬ | Logical NOT |
∩ | ∩ | ∩ | Intersection |
∪ | ∪ | ∪ | Union |
∈ | ∈ | ∈ | Element of |
∉ | ∉ | ∉ | Not an element of |
⊂ | ⊂ | ⊂ | Subset of |
⊃ | ⊃ | ⊃ | Superset of |
∀ | ∀ | ∀ | For all |
∃ | ∃ | ∃ | There exists |
∅ | ∅ | ∅ | Empty set |
∇ | ∇ | ∇ | Nabla (del) |
∂ | ∂ | ∂ | Partial differential |
Currency
Common currency symbols used in international content.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
$ | $ | $ | Dollar sign |
¢ | ¢ | ¢ | Cent sign |
£ | £ | £ | Pound sign |
€ | € | € | Euro sign |
¥ | ¥ | ¥ | Yen / Yuan sign |
¤ | ¤ | ¤ | General currency sign |
Arrows
Directional arrows and double arrows for navigation and flow diagrams.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
← | ← | ← | Left arrow |
↑ | ↑ | ↑ | Up arrow |
→ | → | → | Right arrow |
↓ | ↓ | ↓ | Down arrow |
↔ | ↔ | ↔ | Left-right arrow |
⇐ | ⇐ | ⇐ | Left double arrow |
⇒ | ⇒ | ⇒ | Right double arrow |
⇔ | ⇔ | ⇔ | Left-right double arrow |
Greek Letters
Greek alphabet characters commonly used in math, science, and engineering.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Α | Α | Α | Greek capital letter Alpha |
α | α | α | Greek small letter alpha |
Β | Β | Β | Greek capital letter Beta |
β | β | β | Greek small letter beta |
Γ | Γ | Γ | Greek capital letter Gamma |
γ | γ | γ | Greek small letter gamma |
Δ | Δ | Δ | Greek capital letter Delta |
δ | δ | δ | Greek small letter delta |
Ε | Ε | Ε | Greek capital letter Epsilon |
ε | ε | ε | Greek small letter epsilon |
Π | Π | Π | Greek capital letter Pi |
π | π | π | Greek small letter pi |
Σ | Σ | Σ | Greek capital letter Sigma |
σ | σ | σ | Greek small letter sigma |
Ω | Ω | Ω | Greek capital letter Omega |
ω | ω | ω | Greek small letter omega |
Θ | Θ | Θ | Greek capital letter Theta |
θ | θ | θ | Greek small letter theta |
Λ | Λ | Λ | Greek capital letter Lambda |
λ | λ | λ | Greek small letter lambda |
Μ | Μ | Μ | Greek capital letter Mu |
μ | μ | μ | Greek small letter mu |
Miscellaneous
Card suits, check marks, stars, and other commonly used symbols.
| Character | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
♥ | ♥ | ♥ | Black heart suit |
♦ | ♦ | ♦ | Black diamond suit |
♣ | ♣ | ♣ | Black club suit |
♠ | ♠ | ♠ | Black spade suit |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Check mark |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Ballot X (cross mark) |
★ | ☆ | ★ | Black star |
Frequently Asked Questions
HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved or invisible characters in HTML. Characters like
<, >, &, and " have special meaning in HTML markup, so you must use their entity equivalents to display them as literal text on a web page. Entities also let you insert symbols not found on a standard keyboard, such as copyright signs, arrows, and mathematical operators.Entity names (like
&) are human-readable aliases, while entity numbers (like &) use the Unicode code point. Entity numbers are supported by all browsers and cover every Unicode character. Entity names are easier to remember but only a subset of characters have named entities. Both produce the same rendered output.Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks inject malicious scripts via user input. By encoding special HTML characters, replacing
< with <, > with >, & with &, and " with ", you prevent browsers from interpreting user input as executable markup. This output encoding is a fundamental layer of XSS defense alongside input validation and Content Security Policy headers.