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.