Got HTML tags mixed with your text? Our free HTML stripper removes all HTML markup instantly, leaving clean readable text. Perfect for cleaning web content, emails, or CMS exports. No signup, preserves text structure. Strip HTML below or learn about different cleaning methods.
Strip HTML instantly: Use our HTML Tag Stripper for clean text in seconds, or learn about different stripping methods below.
Table of Contents
What Are HTML Tags and Why Remove Them?
HTML tags are the building blocks of web pages. They're enclosed in angle brackets like
<p>, <div>, or <strong> and tell
browsers how to display content. While essential for web formatting, these tags become
problematic when you need plain text.
<h1>Welcome</h1>
<p>This is a <strong>paragraph</strong> with tags.</p>
Clean Text:
Welcome
This is a paragraph with tags.
Common HTML elements you'll encounter include:
- Structural tags: <div>, <span>, <section>
- Text formatting: <p>, <br>, <h1>-<h6>
- Style tags: <strong>, <em>, <u>
- Links and media: <a>, <img>, <video>
- Lists: <ul>, <ol>, <li>
Common Scenarios for HTML Stripping
Understanding when you need to remove HTML tags helps you choose the right approach:
1. Content Migration
When moving content between different systems (WordPress to plain text, email to document), HTML tags often need to be removed to ensure compatibility.
2. Data Analysis
Researchers and analysts frequently need to extract text from web-scraped data. HTML tags interfere with text analysis, word counting, and natural language processing.
3. Email to Plain Text
Converting HTML emails to plain text for better compatibility with older email clients or for creating text-only versions of newsletters.
4. SEO and Content Auditing
SEO professionals often need clean text to analyze keyword density, readability scores, and content structure without HTML interference.
💡 Pro Tip
Always preview your text after stripping HTML. Some tools may remove too much (like line breaks) or too little (leaving entities like ). Choose a tool with options to control the stripping process.
5 Methods to Remove HTML Tags
Method 1: Online HTML Stripper (Fastest)
The quickest way is using an online tool. Simply paste your HTML and get clean text instantly. Best for one-off tasks or when you don't have access to coding tools.
Method 2: Regular Expressions
For developers, regex can remove HTML tags programmatically:
Note: This basic pattern works for simple HTML but may fail with complex nested tags.
Method 3: Text Editors
Many text editors (Notepad++, Sublime Text, VS Code) have find-and-replace features that support regex, allowing you to strip HTML tags manually.
Method 4: Browser Developer Tools
You can use browser console to extract text content:
Method 5: Programming Libraries
Various programming languages offer HTML parsing libraries:
- Python: BeautifulSoup, html2text
- JavaScript: DOMParser, cheerio
- PHP: strip_tags() function
Using an Online HTML Stripper
Our free HTML Tag Stripper offers the most convenient solution with advanced options:
- Navigate to the tool: Go to our HTML Tag Stripper
- Paste your HTML: Copy your HTML content into the input box
- Choose options:
- Preserve line breaks for maintaining structure
- Decode HTML entities (& → &)
- Remove extra spaces for cleaner output
- Strip script and style content
- Click "Strip HTML Tags": Get your clean text instantly
- Copy or download: Use the result as needed
Ready to Clean Your HTML?
Strip HTML tags from any text in seconds - no coding required!
Try HTML Stripper Now →Best Practices and Tips
1. Preserve Important Formatting
When stripping HTML, consider what formatting you want to keep. Line breaks from <br> and <p> tags often represent important structure.
2. Handle Special Characters
HTML entities like (non-breaking space) or — (em dash) should be converted to their text equivalents, not removed entirely.
3. Consider the Context
Different scenarios require different approaches:
- For reading: Preserve paragraph breaks and basic formatting
- For data processing: Remove all formatting for consistency
- For email conversion: Keep some structure for readability
4. Test with Complex HTML
Always test your stripping method with complex HTML that includes:
- Nested tags
- Inline styles and scripts
- HTML comments
- Special characters and entities
⚠️ Common Pitfalls
Don't forget about:
• Script and style content that might remain
• HTML entities that need decoding
• Important whitespace that maintains readability
• Links that might lose their context when stripped
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between stripping and escaping HTML?
Stripping removes HTML tags entirely, leaving only text content. Escaping converts HTML tags to display as text (e.g., < becomes <). Use stripping when you want clean text, and escaping when you want to display HTML code.
Can I strip HTML tags while keeping some formatting?
Yes! Many tools allow selective stripping. You might keep line breaks from <br> tags while removing all other HTML. Our tool offers multiple options to control exactly what gets removed.
Is it safe to strip HTML from user-generated content?
Stripping HTML is actually a security best practice for user content. It prevents XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attacks by removing potentially malicious scripts. Always strip HTML from untrusted sources before displaying or processing.
What about removing CSS and JavaScript?
Complete HTML stripping should remove <style> and <script> tags along with their content. Make sure your stripping method handles these elements, as they can contain large blocks of non-text content.
How do I handle international characters when stripping HTML?
Modern HTML strippers handle UTF-8 encoding properly, preserving international characters. Ensure your tool supports Unicode and properly decodes HTML entities for special characters in different languages.
Conclusion
Removing HTML tags doesn't have to be complicated. Whether you're cleaning up a single webpage or processing thousands of documents, choosing the right method saves time and ensures accurate results.
For quick, reliable HTML stripping with full control over the output, try our free HTML Tag Stripper. It handles complex HTML, preserves important formatting, and works instantly in your browser - no installation required.