HTML Stripper

HTML Stripper

Remove HTML tags and leave plain text, with options to decode entities or keep one line per block element. Embedded script and style content is dropped, so only readable copy remains.

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Quick Presets
Markup samples that cover the common casesNeed HTML to Markdown?
Strip HTML Tags
Paste markup and choose whether to keep block line breaks or decode entities.

Strip tags, decode entities, collapse spaces

How it works: Plain text parses the markup and returns the visible text with entities decoded. Keep line breaks turns block elements into one line each before parsing, and Tags only removes tags without touching escaped characters.

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What is HTML Stripper?

The HTML Stripper removes markup from a block of HTML and returns the readable text underneath. Paste an article, an email template, or a table and choose whether entities are decoded or block elements become separate lines. Embedded script and style content is dropped before the text is read, so code does not leak into the result.

How does HTML Stripper work?

The input is parsed with the browser's HTML parser, then the text content of the body is read. Nested tags, malformed markup, and unclosed elements are handled the same way a browser handles them.

In line-break mode, closing block tags and br elements become newlines before parsing, so paragraphs, list items, and table rows end up on separate lines. In tags-only mode no parsing happens: tags are removed with a regular expression and entities such as & stay exactly as written.

Key Features

  • Three output modes: plain text, line breaks, or tags only
  • Decodes entities such as & and é
  • Drops script, style, and noscript content
  • Keeps one line per block element in line-break mode
  • Handles malformed and unclosed markup
  • Character, word, and line totals for the result

Common Use Cases

When and why you might need this tool
  • Turning a newsletter into plain text

    Strip the markup from an HTML email so the copy can be reused in a text-only format.

  • Cleaning CMS export fragments

    Remove wrapper divs and spans from a page section before pasting the text into a document.

  • Extracting table contents

    Use line-break mode to turn table rows into one line each, then paste them into a spreadsheet.

  • Checking what a crawler reads

    Compare the visible text with the source to confirm that important copy is not hidden in attributes.

  • Preparing email templates

    Pull the wording out of a table-based template so it can be reviewed without the layout markup.

How to Use This Tool

Step-by-step guide to get the best results
1

Paste the HTML

Enter the markup in the input box, including any surrounding wrapper elements.

2

Choose an output mode

Pick plain text, keep line breaks, or tags only depending on how you plan to use the result.

3

Strip the tags

Press Strip HTML. Script and style content is removed before the text is read.

4

Check the totals

Character, word, and line counts confirm how much text came through.

5

Copy the text

Use the copy button in the result header and paste the plain text into your document.

Pro Tips

  • 1

    Use line-break mode when the source has paragraphs, list items, or table rows that should stay separate.

  • 2

    Tags-only mode is the right choice when you need to keep entities as written for later processing.

  • 3

    Script and style blocks are dropped in both parsed modes, so inline JavaScript never appears in the output.

  • 4

    Collapsed whitespace in plain-text mode removes source indentation, which makes pasted text easier to read.

  • 5

    If a block disappears, check whether it was inside a noscript element, which is also removed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I remove HTML tags from text?

Paste the markup into the stripper and run it in plain-text mode. Tags are removed, entities are decoded, and repeated whitespace is collapsed into single spaces.

Does the stripper keep line breaks?

Only in line-break mode. Closing paragraph, div, list, table, and heading tags become newlines there, while plain-text mode collapses everything into a single block.

What happens to script and style tags?

Their content is removed before the text is read, so JavaScript and CSS never appear in the output. In tags-only mode the tags are removed but the code between them remains.

Are HTML entities decoded?

Yes in plain-text and line-break modes. Characters such as &, ", and é are converted to the characters they represent. Tags-only mode leaves them untouched.

Why is some of my content missing from the result?

Content inside script, style, or noscript elements is dropped on purpose. Text stored only in attributes, such as alt text or title values, is not part of the visible text either.

Can it handle malformed HTML?

Yes. Parsed modes use the browser's own HTML parser, which repairs unclosed and misnested tags the same way it does when rendering a page.