devpack
EnglishDeutsch · StartseiteFrançais · AccueilEspañol · InicioPortuguês (Brasil) · Início
Site Audit

Less-than sign < — HTML code and how to type it

The less-than sign < is &lt; in HTML and U+003C in Unicode. Copy any form below.

Updated

Character<
HTML named entity&lt;
HTML decimal&#60;
HTML hex&#x3C;
UnicodeU+003C
CSS content"\003C"
JavaScript"\u003C"
URL encoded%3C
UTF-8 bytes3C

When to use it

Must be escaped as &lt; in HTML text so it isn’t read as the start of a tag.

In HTML, CSS and JavaScript

<p>&lt;</p>           <!-- or the character itself in a UTF-8 page -->

.note::before { content: "\003C"; }

const s = "\u003C";

In a page saved as UTF-8 (the default today) you can paste the character directly; the entity is only needed when it must survive a non-UTF-8 system, or — as here — when the character has a special meaning in HTML. Encode or decode whole texts with the HTML Entity Encoder.

How to type less-than sign

  • Windows: press Win + . to open the emoji and symbol panel and search for it, or type 003C then Alt + X in Word.
  • Mac: press Ctrl + Cmd + Space and search for “less-than sign”.
  • Linux: Ctrl + Shift + U, then 3C and Enter.
HTML Entity EncoderEscape < > & " so text is safe to show in HTML, convert accents and symbols to named or numeric entities, or decode entity-filled HTML back to plain text.
Open the tool

Frequently asked questions

What is the HTML code for the less-than sign?
&lt; (named), &#60; (decimal) or &#x3C; (hex). All three produce the same character.
What is the Unicode for the less-than sign?
U+003C. In CSS write "\003C" and in JavaScript "\u003C".
How do I type the less-than sign on a keyboard?
On Windows open the symbol panel with Win + . and search for it. On a Mac use Ctrl + Cmd + Space and search for it.