How is this different from HTML entities?

XML 1.0 predefined entities are amp, lt, gt, quot, and apos. HTML pages often use ' for apostrophe; XML prefers '. This page does not invent HTML named entities like .

Text vs attribute mode?

Text escapes &, . Attribute mode also turns quotes into " / ' so a value can sit in an attribute.

Numeric character references?

Unescape understands © and ©. Escape does not rewrite ordinary Unicode — only the five XML specials.

Runs in your browser · Last updated 7 September 2026

Free XML Escape / Unescape

Free XML escape and unescape. amp, lt, gt, quot, apos — text or attribute mode. Browser tool — nothing is uploaded.

InputAttribute mode (also escape quotes as " / ')

Escaped

&lt;item id="x"&gt;Tom &amp; Jerry&lt;/item&gt;

Unescaped (if the box is already entities)

<item id="x">Tom & Jerry</item>

How to use this tool

Paste XML or text.
Toggle attribute mode if the string is an attribute value.
Copy the escaped or unescaped result.

Worked example

<item id="x">Tom & Jerry</item> becomes <item id="x">Tom & Jerry</item>. Quotes stay in text mode. HTML named entities live on the HTML entity encoder; pretty-print is on the XML formatter.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from HTML entities?: XML 1.0 predefined entities are amp, lt, gt, quot, and apos. HTML pages often use ' for apostrophe; XML prefers '. This page does not invent HTML named entities like  .
Text vs attribute mode?: Text escapes &, <, and >. Attribute mode also turns quotes into " / ' so a value can sit in an attribute.
Numeric character references?: Unescape understands © and ©. Escape does not rewrite ordinary Unicode — only the five XML specials.
Uploaded?: No.