HTML Character Entity Codes Cheat Sheet

HTML character entity codes let you use special characters in your HTML that either can’t be typed directly or would otherwise interfere with HTML syntax. Below is a quick reference to the most useful ones for layout, typography, and clean formatting.

🔒 Non‑Breaking & Invisible Characters

•   — Non‑breaking space (U+00A0): Prevents automatic line breaks between words.
• ‑ — Non‑breaking hyphen (U+2011): Prevents splitting a hyphenated word across lines.
• ­ — Soft hyphen (U+00AD): Hyphen appears only if the word breaks at that point.
•   — Thin space (U+2009): A subtle space between characters, useful for precise typesetting.
• ‌ — Zero‑width non‑joiner (U+200C): Prevents ligatures between letters.
• ‍ — Zero‑width joiner (U+200D): Forces ligature where one wouldn’t normally form.

🛑 Reserved Characters in HTML

Used to safely display code‑related characters:

• & — & (ampersand)
• < — < (less than)
• > — > (greater than)
• " — " (double quote)
• ' — ' (apostrophe/single quote)

✍️ Typography & Symbols

• © — © (copyright)
• ® — ® (registered trademark)
• ™ — ™ (trademark)
• • — • (bullet)
• … — … (ellipsis)
• – — – (en dash, U+2013): Used for number ranges like 10–20
• — — — (em dash, U+2014): The long hyphen — great for breaks in thought or emphasis

💰 Currency Symbols

• ¢ — ¢
• $ — $ (optional, but works)
• € — €
• £ — £
• ¥ — ¥

➡️ Arrows & Navigation

• ← — ← (left arrow)
• → — → (right arrow)
• ↑ — ↑ (up arrow)
• ↓ — ↓ (down arrow)
• ↔ — ↔ (left‑right arrow)

⚡ Bonus Tip: Use Numeric Codes

You can use decimal or hexadecimal codes to access any Unicode character:

•   — Thin space
• — or — — Em dash (long hyphen)

📌 Final Note

HTML entities give you fine control over layout and readability — perfect for writing that looks as good as it reads. Keep this list handy next time you’re coding or writing markup.

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About the Author

Dusty Hale

I’m a professional full stack web application developer having worked in multiple application stacks for 27+ years, since 1998. My career began in Atlanta, GA, where I worked as a developer with Kaplan Communications, Spun Logic, and b2bTech. In current times, I am the project director for hale.group. I live in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and work remotely from a dedicated work space.

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