Para que los autores tengan una manera más intuitiva de referirse a caracteres del conjunto de caracteres del documento, HTML ofrece un conjunto de referencias a entidades de caracteres. Las referencias a entidades de caracteres utilizan nombres simbólicos para que los autores no tengan que recordar posiciones de código. Por ejemplo, la referencia a la entidad de caracteres å (se refiere a la letra minúscula "a" con un anillo encima; "å") es más fácil de recordar que å.
Las referencias a entidades de caracteres sí distinguen entre mayúsculas y minúsculas. Así, Å se refiere a un carácter diferente (A mayúscula con anillo; Å) que å (a minúscula con anillo; å).
| Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad | Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no-break space |   | | ampersand | & | & | & | |
| middle dot | · | · | · | plus-minus sign | ± | ± | ± |
| multiplication sign | × | × | × | division sign | ÷ | ÷ | ÷ |
| sum of | ∑ | ∑ | ∑ | integral | ∫ | ∫ | ∫ |
| infinity | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | square root | √ | √ | √ |
| arrow left | ← | ← | ← | arrow right | → | → | → |
| arrow up | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | arrow down | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| less than | < | < | < | greater than | > | > | > |
| right-pointing | » | » | » | left-pointing | « | « | « |
| double quote | " | " | " | degree sign | ° | ° | ° |
| en dash | – | – | – | per mille sign | ‰ | ‰ | ‰ |
| copyright sign | © | © | © | registered sign | ® | ® | ® |
| euro sign | € | € | € | pound sign | £ | £ | £ |
| inverted exclamation mark | ¡ | ¡ | ¡ | inverted question mark | ¿ | ¿ | ¿ |
| Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad | Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| capital letter A with grave | À | À | À | small letter a with grave | à | à | à |
| capital letter A with acute | Á | Á | Á | small letter a with acute | á | á | á |
| capital letter A with circumflex | Â | Â | Â | small letter a with circumflex | â | â | â |
| capital letter A with tilde | Ã | Ã | Ã | small letter a with tilde | ã | ã | ã |
| capital letter A with diaeresis | Ä | Ä | Ä | small letter a with diaeresis | ä | ä | ä |
| capital letter A with ring above | Å | Å | Å | small letter a with ring above | å | å | å |
| capital letter AE dipthong | Æ | Æ | Æ | small letter ae dipthong | æ | æ | æ |
| capital letter C with cedilla | Ç | Ç | Ç | small letter c with cedilla | ç | ç | ç |
| capital letter E with grave | È | È | È | small letter e with grave | è | è | è |
| capital letter E with acute | É | É | É | small letter e with acute | é | é | é |
| capital letter E with circumflex | Ê | Ê | Ê | small letter e with circumflex | ê | ê | ê |
| capital letter E with diaeresis | Ë | Ë | Ë | small letter e with diaeresis | ë | ë | ë |
| capital letter I with grave | Ì | Ì | Ì | small letter i with grave | ì | ì | ì |
| capital letter I with acute | Í | Í | Í | small letter i with acute | í | í | í |
| capital letter I with circumflex | Î | Î | Î | small letter i with circumflex | î | î | î |
| capital letter I with diaeresis | Ï | Ï | Ï | small letter i with diaeresis | ï | ï | ï |
| Capital N, tilde mark | Ñ | Ñ | Ñ | Small N, tilde mark | ñ | ñ | ñ |
| capital letter O with grave | Ò | Ò | Ò | small letter o with grave | ò | ò | ò |
| capital letter O with acute | Ó | Ó | Ó | small letter o with acute | ó | ó | ó |
| capital letter O with circumflex | Ô | Ô | Ô | small letter o with circumflex | ô | ô | ô |
| capital letter O with tilde | Õ | Õ | Õ | small letter o with tilde | õ | õ | õ |
| capital letter O with diaeresis | Ö | Ö | Ö | small letter o with diaeresis | ö | ö | ö |
| capital letter o with stroke | Ø | Ø | Ø | small letter o with stroke | ø | ø | ø |
| capital letter U with grave | Ù | Ù | Ù | small letter u with grave | ù | ù | ù |
| capital letter U with acute | Ú | Ú | Ú | small letter u with acute | ú | ú | ú |
| capital letter U with circumflex | Û | Û | Û | small letter u with circumflex | û | û | û |
| capital letter U with diaeresis | Ü | Ü | Ü | small letter u with diaeresis | ü | ü | ü |
| capital letter Y with acute | Ý | Ý | Ý | small letter y with acute | ý | ý | ý |
| capital letter Y with diaeresis | Ÿ | ß | Ÿ | small letter y with diaeresis | ÿ | ÿ | ÿ |
| micro sign | µ | µ | µ | small letter sharp s | ß | ß | ß |
| Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad | Descripcion | Caracter | Código decimal | Nombre de entidad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| capital letter Alpha | Α | Α | Α | small letter alpha | α | α | α |
| capital letter Beta | Β | Β | Β | small letter beta | β | β | β |
| capital letter Gamma | Γ | Γ | Γ | small letter gamma | γ | γ | γ |
| capital letter Delta | Δ | Δ | Δ | small letter delta | δ | δ | δ |
| capital letter Epsilon | Ε | Ε | Ε | small letter epsilon | ε | ε | ε |
| capital letter Zeta | Ζ | Ζ | Ζ | small letter zeta | ζ | ζ | ζ |
| capital letter Eta | Η | Η | Η | small letter eta | η | η | η |
| capital letter Theta | Θ | Θ | Θ | small letter Theta | Θ | θ | Θ |
| capital letter Iota | Ι | Ι | Ι | small letter iota | ι | ι | ι |
| capital letter Kappa | Κ | Κ | Κ | small letter kappa | κ | κ | κ |
| capital letter Lambda | Λ | Λ | Λ | small letter lambda | λ | λ | λ |
| capital letter Mu | Μ | Μ | Μ | small letter mu | μ | μ | μ |
| capital letter Nu | Ν | Ν | Ν | small letter nu | ν | ν | ν |
| capital letter Xi | Ξ | Ξ | Ξ | small letter xi | ξ | ξ | ξ |
| capital letter Omicron | Ο | Ο | Ο | small letter omicron | ο | ο | ο |
| capital letter Pi | Π | Π | Π | small letter pi | π | π | π |
| capital letter Rho | Ρ | Ρ | Ρ | small letter rho | ρ | ρ | ρ |
| capital letter Sigma | Σ | Σ | Σ | small letter sigma | σ | σ | σ |
| capital letter Tau | Τ | Τ | Τ | small letter tau | τ | τ | τ |
| capital letter Upsilon | Υ | Υ | Υ | small letter upsilon | υ | υ | υ |
| capital letter Phi | Φ | Φ | Φ | small letter phi | φ | φ | φ |
| capital letter Chi | Χ | Χ | Χ | small letter chi | χ | χ | χ |
| capital letter Psi | Ψ | Ψ | Ψ | small letter psi | ψ | ψ | ψ |
| capital letter Omega | Ω | Ω | Ω | small letter omega | ω | ω | ω |
Un agente de usuario puede no ser capaz de representar correctamente todos los caracteres de un documento, por ejemplo, porque el agente de usuario carezca de una fuente apropiada, porque un carácter tenga un valor que no pueda expresarse con la codificación de caracteres interna del agente de usuario, etc.