About the XML Escape / Unescape Tool

Our XML Escape / Unescape is a free online developer tool designed to handle special characters in your XML data. It expertly escapes or unescapes an XML file or snippet, removing traces of “offending” characters that could be wrongfully interpreted as active markup. This ensures your code is safe to render, display, or embed as plain text.

The tool is split into two simple modes: XML Escape and XML Unescape. The primary function is to convert an entire XML structure—tags, content, and all—into a plain text string that web browsers and other parsers will display literally, rather than trying to process. The “Unescape” function performs the reverse, transforming the text string back into structured XML.

How Character Escaping Works

The tool focuses on the five characters that are reserved in XML. Everything else in your data stays exactly the same.

XML Escape Mode

This mode converts the special characters in your input data into their corresponding XML entities to make them safe.

& is converted to &
< is converted to <
> is converted to >
" (double quote) is converted to "
' (apostrophe) is converted to ' (or ')

XML Unescape Mode

As the opposite of escaping, this mode converts the XML entities in your input data back to their original characters.

& is converted to &
< is converted to <
> is converted to >
" is converted to "
' (or ') is converted to '

You Might Also Need: JSON Escape / Unescape

Example

Here is a clear example of how the tool converts a block of XML into a text string, perfect for display.

Input XML Data

This is a standard block of XML code before being processed.

XML

<note>
  <from>Support</from>
  <message>Welcome & 'thanks' for using the tool!</message>
</note>

Correct Escaped Output

After clicking Escape, the tool converts every reserved character, including the tags themselves, into its escaped entity.

&lt;note&gt;
  &lt;from&gt;Support&lt;/from&gt;
  &lt;message&gt;Welcome &amp; &apos;thanks&apos; for using the tool!&lt;/message&gt;
&lt;/note&gt;

Once done, you can easily copy the result to your clipboard using the copy button or download it as a file.

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