PHP html_entity_decode() Function

What You’ll Learn

The html_entity_decode() function converts HTML entities (like < and ©) back into their real characters. It reverses htmlentities() and is useful when processing stored or imported HTML-encoded text.

Definition and Usage

In PHP, html_entity_decode() reverses HTML entity encoding. Where htmlentities() turns characters into entities for safe storage or transport, this function restores the original characters—including named entities (©), decimal numeric entities (©), and hex numeric entities (©) that are valid for the chosen document type and encoding.

📝 Syntax

The function accepts a string, optional flags, and encoding:

string html_entity_decode(
    string $string,
    int $flags = ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE | ENT_HTML401,
    ?string $encoding = null
)

Parameters

• $string — the input string containing HTML entities to decode.
• $flags — bitmask controlling quotes and document type. Common values: ENT_COMPAT, ENT_QUOTES, ENT_NOQUOTES, ENT_HTML401, ENT_HTML5, ENT_SUBSTITUTE.
• $encoding — character encoding (strongly recommended: 'UTF-8'). If omitted, PHP uses default_charset.

Return Value

Returns the decoded string with entities converted back to characters.

Examples Gallery

Run these examples in PHP 7+. Each demonstrates a common pattern beginners encounter with html_entity_decode().

<?php
$htmlString = "This is an &lt;b&gt;example&lt;/b&gt; string.";
$decoded    = html_entity_decode($htmlString, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

echo "Original: $htmlString\n";
echo "Decoded:  $decoded\n";
?>

Original: This is an <b>example</b> string.
Decoded:  This is an <b>example</b> string.

<?php
$original = 'I\'ll "walk" the <b>dog</b> now';
$encoded  = htmlentities($original, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
$decoded  = html_entity_decode($encoded, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

echo "Encoded: $encoded\n";
echo "Decoded: $decoded\n";
echo "Match:   " . ($original === $decoded ? "yes\n" : "no\n");
?>

Encoded: I'll "walk" the <b>dog</b> now
Decoded: I'll "walk" the <b>dog</b> now
Match:   yes

<?php
$stored = "Tom &amp; Jerry &copy; 2026 &mdash; Fun!";
$plain  = html_entity_decode($stored, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

echo $plain . "\n";
?>

Tom & Jerry © 2026 — Fun!

<?php
$encoded = "Donna&#039;s Bakery";

$compat = html_entity_decode($encoded, ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8');
$quotes = html_entity_decode($encoded, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

echo "ENT_COMPAT: $compat\n";
echo "ENT_QUOTES: $quotes\n";
?>

ENT_COMPAT: Donna's Bakery
ENT_QUOTES: Donna's Bakery

<?php
$userInput = "&lt;em&gt;Hello&lt;/em&gt; &amp; welcome";

// Process as plain text (e.g. strip tags, search, store)
$plain = html_entity_decode($userInput, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
$clean = strip_tags($plain);

// Safe for HTML output
$safeHtml = htmlspecialchars($clean, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

echo "Plain: $plain\n";
echo "Clean: $clean\n";
echo "Safe:  $safeHtml\n";
?>

Plain: <em>Hello</em> & welcome
Clean: Hello & welcome
Safe:  Hello &amp; welcome

🚀 Common Use Cases

• CMS / imported content — decode entity-encoded HTML from databases or feeds before processing.
• Search and indexing — convert entities to plain characters for matching and sorting.
• Email templates — restore readable text from HTML-encoded message bodies.
• Debugging — inspect what htmlentities() produced by reversing it.
• Data migration — normalize legacy entity-encoded strings to UTF-8 plain text.

📝 Notes

• Default flags changed in PHP 8.1 to ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE | ENT_HTML401.
• Always pass 'UTF-8' as encoding—do not rely on default_charset alone.
• Inverse of htmlentities(), not htmlspecialchars() (use htmlspecialchars_decode() for that).
• Decoding untrusted HTML can reintroduce tags and enable XSS if echoed raw.
•   decodes to U+00A0 (non-breaking space), not a regular space—trim() will not remove it.

💡 Best Practices