---
title: "What’s the difference between htmlentities() and htmlspecialchars()?"  
description: "What’s the difference between htmlentities() and htmlspecialchars()?"  
author: "Anonymous User"  
published: 2011-03-18  
updated: 2020-09-18  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/interview/469/what-s-the-difference-between-htmlentities-and-htmlspecialchars  
category: "php"  
tags: ["php"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What’s the difference between htmlentities() and htmlspecialchars()?

\
**Difference between htmlentities() and htmlspecialchars()**\
\
**htmlentities**\
PHP CODE:htmlentities\
PHP CODE:<?php$str = "A 'quote' is <b>bold</b>";\
echo htmlentities($str);echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES);?>\
**OUTPUT**\
A 'quote' is &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;\
A &#039;quote&#039; is &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;\
**htmlspecialchars**\
PHP CODE:\
<?php$new = htmlspecialchars("<a href='test'>Test</a>", ENT_QUOTES);echo $new; //?>**OUTPUT**\
&lt;a href=&#039;test&#039;&gt;Test&lt;/a&gt;

## Answers

### Answer by Anonymous User

\
**Difference between htmlentities() and htmlspecialchars()**\
\
**htmlentities**\
PHP CODE:htmlentities\
PHP CODE:<?php$str = "A 'quote' is <b>bold</b>";\
echo htmlentities($str);echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES);?>\
**OUTPUT**\
A 'quote' is &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;\
A &#039;quote&#039; is &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;\
**htmlspecialchars**\
PHP CODE:\
<?php$new = htmlspecialchars("<a href='test'>Test</a>", ENT_QUOTES);echo $new; //?>**OUTPUT**\
&lt;a href=&#039;test&#039;&gt;Test&lt;/a&gt;


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