HTML to Text Converter
Paste HTML or a full web page's source and instantly strip out the tags to get clean, readable plain text.
How to use the HTML to Text Converter
- Paste your HTML markup or a page's view-source into the input box.
- Choose whether to keep link URLs and bullet list markers.
- Click Convert to strip the tags and decode HTML entities.
- Review the plain text, then Copy to Clipboard or Download it as a .txt file.
Examples
| Input | Output | Notes |
|---|---|---|
<p>Hello <strong>world</strong>!</p> | Hello world! | Inline tags are removed, the sentence is kept intact. |
<ul><li>First</li><li>Second</li></ul> | • First
• Second | List items become bullet lines. |
<a href="https://example.com">Our site</a> | Our site (https://example.com) | With "keep link URLs" enabled. |
Fish & chips for £5 — a bargain | Fish & chips for £5 — a bargain | Named and numeric HTML entities are decoded. |
<h1>Title</h1><p>Para one.</p><p>Para two.</p> | Title
Para one.
Para two. | Block elements are separated by a blank line. |
What is HTML to text conversion?
HTML to text conversion takes a string of HTML markup — the tags, attributes and entities a browser renders — and reduces it to the plain, unformatted text a reader actually sees. Tags such as <p>, <strong> and <a> are removed, entities like & become &, and structural elements are turned into line breaks so the text stays readable.
It is the opposite of the Word to Clean HTML Converter, which turns text into markup.
What the converter keeps and removes
| Element | Result |
|---|---|
Inline tags (strong, em, span, a) | Removed, text kept on the same line |
| Paragraphs and headings | Separated by a blank line |
<br> | Single line break |
| List items | One per line, optional • bullet |
| Table rows / cells | Row per line, cells tab-separated |
<script>, <style>, comments | Removed entirely, including their contents |
| HTML entities | Decoded to real characters |
Who uses it?
- Writers and editors pulling clean copy out of a CMS or web page.
- Email marketers generating the plain-text alternative of an HTML newsletter.
- Developers sanity-checking what text a template renders, or preparing content for a search index.
- Researchers stripping scraped pages down to their readable content.
- Anyone who pasted rich content and only wants the words.
Tips
If you only need to change the capitalization of the resulting text, run it through the Text Case Converter afterwards. To count the words you extracted, use the Word Counter. To tidy messy markup instead of removing it, use the HTML Beautifier.
Frequently asked questions
What does an HTML to text converter do?
It removes every HTML tag from your markup, decodes HTML entities such as & and back into normal characters, and preserves the reading structure — paragraphs, line breaks and list items — so you are left with clean plain text you can paste anywhere.
How do I remove HTML tags from a block of text?
Paste the HTML into the box above and click Convert. Tags like <p>, <div>, <span> and <a> are stripped, while paragraph and list breaks are kept as new lines. Copy or download the result.
Does it decode HTML entities?
Yes. Named entities (&, <, >, ", , ©, — and more) and numeric entities (', ’) are all converted to their real characters.
Can I keep the links?
Turn on "keep link URLs" and each link is rendered as its text followed by the address in brackets, for example "Our site (https://example.com)". Leave it off to keep just the anchor text.
Is my HTML uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript, so your markup and its content never leave your device.
What is the difference between this and the HTML Beautifier?
This tool throws the markup away and gives you the words. The HTML Beautifier keeps the markup and just re-indents it. Use this one to get plain text out of an email, CMS export or scraped page.