 Tutorials  Exercises  Services   Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++

HTML Encoding (Character Sets)

❮ Previous Next ❯

To display an HTML page correctly, a web browser must know which character set to use.

The HTML charset Attribute

The character set is specified in the <meta> tag:

Example
<meta charset="UTF-8">

The HTML5 specification encourages web developers to use the UTF-8 character set.

UTF-8 covers almost all of the characters and symbols in the world!
 Tutorials  Exercises  Services   Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++

Full UTF-8 Reference

The ASCII Character Set

ASCII was the first character encoding standard for the web. It defined 128 different characters
that could be used on the internet:

English letters (A-Z)

Numbers (0-9)
Special characters like ! $ + - ( ) @ < >.

The ANSI Character Set

ANSI (Windows-1252) was the original Windows character set:

Identical to ASCII for the first 127 characters

Special characters from 128 to 159
Identical to UTF-8 from 160 to 255

<meta charset="Windows-1252">

The ISO-8859-1 Character Set

 ISO-8859-1 was the default character set for HTML 4. This character set supported 256
differentTutorials
character Exercises
 codes. HTML Services
 4 also 
supported 
UTF-8. Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS
Identical JAVASCRIPT
to ASCII for theSQL PYTHON
first 127 charactersJAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
Does not use the characters from 128 to 159
Identical to ANSI and UTF-8 from 160 to 255

HTML 4 Example

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1">

HTML 5 Example

<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">

The UTF-8 Character Set

is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127
Does not use the characters from 128 to 159
Identical to ANSI and 8859-1 from 160 to 255
Continues from the value 256 to 10 000 characters

<meta charset="UTF-8">

Full HTML Character Set Reference.

ADVERTISEMENT

Differences Between Character Sets

The following table displays the differences between the character sets described above:
NumbTutorials
ASCII
 Exercises 
ANSI 8859
Services 
UTF‑8

Description
Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
32 space

33 ! ! ! ! exclamation mark

34 " " " " quotation mark

35 # # # # number sign

36 $ $ $ $ dollar sign

37 % % % % percent sign

38 & & & & ampersand

39 ' ' ' ' apostrophe

40 ( ( ( ( left parenthesis

41 ) ) ) ) right parenthesis

42 * * * * asterisk

43 + + + + plus sign

44 , , , , comma

45 - - - - hyphen-minus

46 . . . . full stop

47 / / / / solidus

48 0 0 0 0 digit zero

49 1 1 1 1 digit one

50 2 2 2 2 digit two

51 3 3 3 3 digit three

52 4 4 4 4 digit four

53 5 5 5 5 digit five

54 6 6 6 6 digit six

55 7 7 7 7 digit seven

56 8 8 8 8 digit eight
57 9
Tutorials 
9 9
Exercises 
9
Services 
digit nine
 Sign Up Log in
58 : : : : colon
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
59 ; ; ; ; semicolon

60 < < < < less than

61 = = = = equals sign

62 > > > > greater than

63 ? ? ? ? question mark

64 @ @ @ @ commercial at

65 A A A A Latin A

66 B B B B Latin B

67 C C C C Latin C

68 D D D D Latin D

69 E E E E Latin E

70 F F F F Latin F

71 G G G G Latin G

72 H H H H Latin H

73 I I I I Latin I

74 J J J J Latin J

75 K K K K Latin K

76 L L L L Latin L

77 M M M M Latin M

78 N N N N Latin N

79 O O O O Latin O

80 P P P P Latin P

81 Q Q Q Q Latin Q

82 R R R R Latin R

83 S S S S Latin S
84 T
Tutorials 
T
Exercises T

T
Services 
Latin T 
Sign Up Log in
85 U U U U Latin U
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
86 V V V V Latin V

87 W W W W Latin W

88 X X X X Latin X

89 Y Y Y Y Latin Y

90 Z Z Z Z Latin Z

91 [ [ [ [ left square bracket

92 \ \ \ \ reverse solidus

93 ] ] ] ] right square bracket

94 ^ ^ ^ ^ circumflex accent

95 _ _ _ _ low line

96 ` ` ` ` grave accent

97 a a a a Latin small a

98 b b b b Latin small b

99 c c c c Latin small c

100 d d d d Latin small d

101 e e e e Latin small e

102 f f f f Latin small f

103 g g g g Latin small g

104 h h h h Latin small h

105 i i i i Latin small i

106 j j j j Latin small j

107 k k k k Latin small k

108 l l l l Latin small l

109 m m m m Latin small m

110 n n n n Latin small n

111 o
Tutorials 
o
Exercises o

o
Services 
Latin small
 o Sign Up Log in
112 p p p p Latin small p
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
113 q q q q Latin small q

114 r r r r Latin small r

115 s s s s Latin small s

116 t t t t Latin small t

117 u u u u Latin small u

118 v v v v Latin small v

119 w w w w Latin small w

120 x x x x Latin small x

121 y y y y Latin small y

122 z z z z Latin small z

123 { { { { left curly bracket

124 | | | | vertical line

125 } } } } right curly bracket

126 ~ ~ ~ ~ tilde

127 DEL

128 € euro sign

129 NOT USED

130 ‚ single low-9 quotation mark

131 ƒ Latin small f with hook

132 „ double low-9 quotation mark

133 … horizontal ellipsis

134 † dagger

135 ‡ double dagger

136 ˆ modifier letter circumflex accent

137 ‰ per mille sign

138 Tutorials  Š
Exercises  Services  Latin S with
 caron Sign Up Log in
139 ‹ single left-pointing angle quotation mark
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
140 ΠLatin capital ligature OE

141    NOT USED

142 Ž Latin Z with caron

143    NOT USED

144    NOT USED

145 ‘ left single quotation mark

146 ’ right single quotation mark

147 “ left double quotation mark

148 ” right double quotation mark

149 • bullet

150 – en dash

151 — em dash

152 ˜ small tilde

153 ™ trade mark sign

154 š Latin small s with caron

155 › single right-pointing angle quotation mark

156 œ Latin small ligature oe

157    NOT USED

158 ž Latin small z with caron

159 Ÿ Latin Y with diaeresis

160 no-break space

161 ¡ ¡ ¡ inverted exclamation mark

162 ¢ ¢ ¢ cent sign

163 £ £ £ pound sign

164 ¤ ¤ ¤ currency sign

165 Tutorials  ¥
Exercises ¥

¥
Services 
yen sign
Sign Up Log in
166 ¦ ¦ ¦ broken bar
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
167 § § § section sign

168 ¨ ¨ ¨ diaeresis

169 © © © copyright sign

170 ª ª ª feminine ordinal indicator

171 « « « left-pointing double angle quotation mark

172 ¬ ¬ ¬ not sign

173 ­ ­ ­ soft hyphen

174 ® ® ® registered sign

175 ¯ ¯ ¯ macron

176 ° ° ° degree sign

177 ± ± ± plus-minus sign

178 ² ² ² superscript two

179 ³ ³ ³ superscript three

180 ´ ´ ´ acute accent

181 µ µ µ micro sign

182 ¶ ¶ ¶ pilcrow sign

183 · · · middle dot

184 ¸ ¸ ¸ cedilla

185 ¹ ¹ ¹ superscript one

186 º º º masculine ordinal indicator

187 » » » right-pointing double angle quotation mark

188 ¼ ¼ ¼ vulgar fraction one quarter

189 ½ ½ ½ vulgar fraction one half

190 ¾ ¾ ¾ vulgar fraction three quarters

191 ¿ ¿ ¿ inverted question mark

192 Tutorials  À
Exercises À

À
Services 
Latin A with
 grave Sign Up Log in
193 Á Á Á Latin A with acute
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
194 Â Â Â Latin A with circumflex

195 Ã Ã Ã Latin A with tilde

196 Ä Ä Ä Latin A with diaeresis

197 Å Å Å Latin A with ring above

198 Æ Æ Æ Latin AE

199 Ç Ç Ç Latin C with cedilla

200 È È È Latin E with grave

201 É É É Latin E with acute

202 Ê Ê Ê Latin E with circumflex

203 Ë Ë Ë Latin E with diaeresis

204 Ì Ì Ì Latin I with grave

205 Í Í Í Latin I with acute

206 Î Î Î Latin I with circumflex

207 Ï Ï Ï Latin I with diaeresis

208 Ð Ð Ð Latin Eth

209 Ñ Ñ Ñ Latin N with tilde

210 Ò Ò Ò Latin O with grave

211 Ó Ó Ó Latin O with acute

212 Ô Ô Ô Latin O with circumflex

213 Õ Õ Õ Latin O with tilde

214 Ö Ö Ö Latin O with diaeresis

215 × × × multiplication sign

216 Ø Ø Ø Latin O with stroke

217 Ù Ù Ù Latin U with grave

218 Ú Ú Ú Latin U with acute

219 Tutorials  Û
Exercises Û

Û
Services 
Latin U 
with circumflex
Sign Up Log in
220 Ü Ü Ü Latin U with diaeresis
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
221 Ý Ý Ý Latin Y with acute

222 Þ Þ Þ Latin Thorn

223 ß ß ß Latin small sharp s

224 à à à Latin small a with grave

225 á á á Latin small a with acute

226 â â â Latin small a with circumflex

227 ã ã ã Latin small a with tilde

228 ä ä ä Latin small a with diaeresis

229 å å å Latin small a with ring above

230 æ æ æ Latin small ae

231 ç ç ç Latin small c with cedilla

232 è è è Latin small e with grave

233 é é é Latin small e with acute

234 ê ê ê Latin small e with circumflex

235 ë ë ë Latin small e with diaeresis

236 ì ì ì Latin small i with grave

237 í í í Latin small i with acute

238 î î î Latin small i with circumflex

239 ï ï ï Latin small i with diaeresis

240 ð ð ð Latin small eth

241 ñ ñ ñ Latin small n with tilde

242 ò ò ò Latin small o with grave

243 ó ó ó Latin small o with acute

244 ô ô ô Latin small o with circumflex

245 õ õ õ Latin small o with tilde

246 Tutorials  ö
Exercises ö

ö
Services 
Latin small
 o with diaeresis Sign Up Log in
247 ÷ ÷ ÷ division sign
HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
248 ø ø ø Latin small o with stroke

249 ù ù ù Latin small u with grave

250 ú ú ú Latin small u with acute

251 û û û Latin small with circumflex

252 ü ü ü Latin small u with diaeresis

253 ý ý ý Latin small y with acute

254 þ þ þ Latin small thorn

255 ÿ ÿ ÿ Latin small y with diaeresis

❮ Previous Next ❯

Track your progress - it's free! Sign Up Log in

ADVERTISEMENT
 Tutorials  Exercises  Services   Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++

COLOR PICKER
 Tutorials  Exercises 
   
Services  Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA
ADVERTISEMENT PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
 ADVERTISEMENT

 Tutorials  Exercises 
ADVERTISEMENT
Services   Sign Up Log in

HTML
 CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++

 PLUS SPACES

GET CERTIFIED FOR TEACHERS

FOR BUSINESS CONTACT US

Top Tutorials
HTML Tutorial
CSS Tutorial
JavaScript Tutorial
How To Tutorial
SQL Tutorial
Python Tutorial
W3.CSS Tutorial
Bootstrap Tutorial
PHP Tutorial
Java Tutorial
C++ Tutorial
jQuery Tutorial

Top References
HTML Reference
CSS Reference
JavaScript Reference
SQL Reference
Python Reference
W3.CSS Reference
Bootstrap Reference
 PHP Reference

 Tutorials  HTML Colors

Exercises 
Java Reference
Services   Sign Up Log in
Angular Reference
HTML
 CSS jQuery Reference
JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++
Top Examples Get Certified
HTML Examples HTML Certificate
CSS Examples CSS Certificate
JavaScript Examples JavaScript Certificate
How To Examples Front End Certificate
SQL Examples SQL Certificate
Python Examples Python Certificate
W3.CSS Examples PHP Certificate
Bootstrap Examples jQuery Certificate
PHP Examples Java Certificate
Java Examples C++ Certificate
XML Examples C# Certificate
jQuery Examples XML Certificate

    

FORUM ABOUT ACADEMY

W3Schools is optimized for learning and training. Examples might be simplified to improve reading and
learning.
Tutorials, references, and examples are constantly reviewed to avoid errors, but we cannot warrant full
correctness
of all content. While using W3Schools, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use, cookie
and privacy policy.

Copyright 1999-2025 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved. W3Schools is Powered by W3.CSS.