How do I convert plain text to HTML?

Paste your text into the left box. Blank lines become paragraphs, single line breaks become , and special characters are escaped. Copy the HTML or download it as a file.

Why do characters like < and & need escaping?

In HTML, < starts a tag and & starts an entity. Text containing them must use < and & instead, or the browser may hide or misread part of it. The converter does this automatically.

Does it create links automatically?

Yes. Web addresses starting with http://, https:// or www. and email addresses become clickable links. You can turn this off in the options.

Yes. A block of lines that all start with -, * or • becomes a bulleted list, and lines starting with 1., 2. and so on become a numbered list.

Text to HTML Converter

Turn plain text into clean HTML paragraphs, lists and links.

Plain text

HTML

CodePreview

<p>Weekly team update</p>
<p>Great progress this week. The new checkout is live &amp; conversion is up 12%.<br>
Details are on <a href="https://example.com/dashboard">https://example.com/dashboard</a>.</p>
<p>Next steps:<br>
- Finish the mobile layout<br>
- Review &lt;form&gt; validation<br>
- Plan the launch email</p>
<p>Questions? Write to <a href="mailto:team@example.com">team@example.com</a>.</p>

<p>Weekly team update</p>
<p>Great progress this week. The new checkout is live &amp; conversion is up 12%.<br>
Details are on <a href="https://example.com/dashboard">https://example.com/dashboard</a>.</p>
<p>Next steps:<br>
- Finish the mobile layout<br>
- Review &lt;form&gt; validation<br>
- Plan the launch email</p>
<p>Questions? Write to <a href="mailto:team@example.com">team@example.com</a>.</p>

How to convert text to HTML

Paste or type plain text on the left, or open a .txt file.
The HTML appears on the right as you type. Switch to Preview to see it rendered.
Choose how paragraphs, line breaks, links and lists are converted.
Copy the HTML or Download it — optionally as a complete HTML document.

From plain text to clean HTML

Pasting plain text into a web page loses its structure: line breaks disappear and characters like < can break the markup. This text to HTML converter wraps paragraphs in <p>, keeps line breaks with <br>, escapes special characters and turns web addresses into links.

Plain text

Opening hours:
Mon–Fri 9–18

Questions? Visit www.example.com

HTML

<p>Opening hours:<br>
Mon–Fri 9–18</p>
<p>Questions? Visit <a href="https://www.example.com">www.example.com</a></p>

Features

Paragraphs from blank lines and line breaks from single newlines.
Automatic links for http://, https://, www. addresses and email addresses.
Bulleted and numbered lists from lines starting with -, *, • or 1.
HTML escaping for <, >, & and quotes, so text is shown exactly as typed.
Optional complete HTML5 document with doctype, charset and viewport.

Use cases

Publishing plain-text announcements, changelogs or support replies on a website.
Adding text to an HTML email template without hand-writing tags.
Displaying user-supplied text safely, with all special characters escaped.

Related tools

Need the opposite? The HTML to text converter strips HTML back to plain text. For documents with headings, tables and images, the Word to HTML converter keeps more structure. You can refine the output in the online HTML editor or tidy it with the HTML formatter.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert plain text to HTML?: Paste your text into the left box. Blank lines become paragraphs, single line breaks become <br>, and special characters are escaped. Copy the HTML or download it as a file.
Why do characters like < and & need escaping?: In HTML, < starts a tag and & starts an entity. Text containing them must use < and & instead, or the browser may hide or misread part of it. The converter does this automatically.
Does it create links automatically?: Yes. Web addresses starting with http://, https:// or www. and email addresses become clickable links. You can turn this off in the options.
Can it make lists?: Yes. A block of lines that all start with -, * or • becomes a bulleted list, and lines starting with 1., 2. and so on become a numbered list.