HTML Tag Stripper

HTML source:

Paste the HTML you want converted into readable plain text.

Content scope:

Choose which part of a full HTML document should become plain text.

Output style:

Set the plain-text whitespace shape before copying or exporting.

Hidden content:

Choose whether hidden source text should be omitted from the plain-text result.

Link handling:

Choose whether anchor URLs are omitted, appended, converted to Markdown, or collected as references.

Image text:

Control how image tags contribute to the generated plain text.

Entity handling:

Select whether HTML entities become characters or remain source tokens.

Script/style content:

Choose how non-visible or executable blocks are treated before text extraction.

{{ warning }}

List marker:

Choose how unordered list items are marked in plain text.

Table handling:

Choose how table cells are flattened after tags are removed.

Maximum blank lines: {{ maxBlankLinesLabel }}

Limit vertical whitespace in readable and line-by-line output.

blank

Trim outer whitespace:

Leave on for normal copy/paste handoff; turn off only when outer whitespace is part of the source evidence.

{{ plainText }}

Check	Value	Detail	Copy
{{ row.check }}	{{ row.value }}	{{ row.detail }}

Element	Count	Treatment	Detail	Copy
{{ row.element }}	{{ row.count }}	{{ row.treatment }}	{{ row.detail }}

Item	Text and URL	Treatment	Copy
{{ row.item }}	{{ row.text }} {{ row.url }}	{{ row.handling }}. {{ row.detail }}

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Stripping HTML tags is the process of reducing marked-up content to readable plain text. It is useful when the browser layout is no longer needed but the words, list items, table cells, image descriptions, and link labels still matter for support replies, CMS migrations, email review, search snippets, or data-cleaning handoffs.

HTML is not only visible words. A document can contain headings, paragraphs, anchors, images, tables, comments, scripts, styles, templates, navigation, and hidden support content. Good text extraction keeps the human-readable parts while making deliberate choices about structure that HTML normally carries for the browser.

HTML tags reduced to visible text with spacing rules and review ledgers

Plain-text output is not the same as sanitized HTML. Removing tags can make copied content easier to read, compare, or paste into another system, but it does not prove that the original page was safe, complete, or suitable for publishing. Unsafe link schemes, missing image text, removed script blocks, and table flattening are still review items.

The practical goal is a text version that keeps the main message and enough structure for review. That usually means preserving paragraph breaks, list markers, table rows, link destinations when they are useful, and image alt text when images carry meaning.

How to Use This Tool:

Start with the content you want to keep, then choose how much HTML structure should survive as plain-text spacing, labels, and review notes.

Paste markup into HTML source, drop text onto the editor, or choose Browse HTML for one .html, .htm, or .txt file under 1 MB. If the file warning appears, use a smaller text file or paste the needed fragment directly.
Set Content scope. Auto content root looks for article or main content first, Body or fragment uses the parsed body or pasted fragment, and Document title plus body includes the page title before the extracted body text.
Choose Output style. Readable paragraphs keeps block spacing, One block per line makes review diffs easier, and Compact one line is better for spreadsheet cells or single-field handoffs. Use Hidden content to skip invisible or accessibility-hidden source text unless you are auditing all source text.
Decide how links and images should appear. Link handling can keep only link text, append safe URLs, create Markdown-style links, or add a reference list. Image text can use alt text, ignore images, or include alt text plus a safe source URL.
Use Entity handling and Script/style content for review-sensitive sources. Decode entities for readable copy, preserve entity tokens when the exact source spelling matters, and keep script or style text only when you intentionally need to inspect it.
Open Advanced for list markers, table rows, blank-line caps, and outer-whitespace trimming. These settings shape the plain-text result without changing which source text was selected.
Check Plain Text first, then use Text Cleanup Ledger, Element Treatment Map, and Link and Image Ledger to verify counts, suppressed URLs, removed blocks, and element treatments. If the summary says No visible text, change Content scope or paste a smaller fragment.

A usable result has the expected words in Plain Text, a sensible source scope in Text Cleanup Ledger, and no warning that changes how the text should be reused.

Interpreting Results:

Plain Text is the copyable text result. Treat the word count, character count, selected scope, and tag count in the summary as a fast sanity check, not as proof that every visible part of the original page was captured.

Text Cleanup Ledger records source size, output size, tags stripped, comments removed, link handling, image handling, entity handling, list and table treatment, and review notes.
Element Treatment Map shows which tags were found in the selected scope and how their text was handled.
Link and Image Ledger lists anchors and images, including links or image sources that were suppressed because the URL scheme was unsafe for plain-text handoff.
JSON keeps the same output, metrics, ledgers, and settings in a structured record for comparison or audit notes.

False confidence comes from tidy text that hides missing structure. A table can be flattened into rows, an image can disappear when it has no alt text, a full page can include navigation when the wrong content scope is selected, and a removed script block can still matter when you are auditing what the original source contained.

Before reusing the result, compare a few critical lines against the original HTML. Check the first heading, important links, image alt text, table rows, list numbering, and any warning about removed script, style, template, or noscript content.

Technical Details:

HTML tag stripping starts with parsing markup into a document tree. A browser parser is tolerant of common HTML fragments, so missing outer document tags, mixed-case element names, comments, and ordinary page fragments can still produce a usable tree for extraction. Text nodes become the core output, while element names decide where line breaks, list prefixes, table separators, and link labels should appear.

Block elements need spacing because they separate ideas on the page. Inline elements usually keep their text in the current sentence. Anchors and images need separate policies because the visible label and the URL or source attribute are different pieces of information. Script, style, template, and noscript blocks are not normal visible article text, so removing them is the safer default for content migration and email cleanup.

Transformation Core:

HTML tag stripping stages and review evidence
Stage	Rule	Review Evidence
Parse	The input is read as HTML, so a full document, pasted fragment, or plain text file can be handled through the same extraction process.	File status, source character count, source line count, and any empty-output warning.
Select root	The selected scope uses an article or main region when available, the body or fragment body, or the document title followed by body text.	Source scope in Text Cleanup Ledger.
Render text	Text nodes are kept, block tags create boundaries, list items get markers, table cells are flattened, links and images follow the selected policies, and comments are omitted.	Tags stripped, Element Treatment Map, and output line or word counts.
Filter risky parts	Script, style, template, and noscript content can be removed, and unsafe URL schemes are not copied into the plain-text output.	Script/style blocks, unsafe URL counts, and Link and Image Ledger treatment notes.
Normalize spacing	Whitespace is shaped into readable paragraphs, one block per line, or a compact single-line result, with optional outer trimming.	Output style, output line count, and the final Plain Text panel.

Element Handling Map:

Common HTML elements and their plain-text treatment
HTML Construct	Plain-Text Treatment	Common Review Point
h1-h6, p, div, section, article, main	The tag is removed after a readable block boundary is preserved.	Check that the selected scope did not include repeated navigation or footer text.
a	Link text remains. Safe URLs can be dropped, appended, converted to Markdown-style links, or collected in a reference list.	Empty link text, long URLs, and suppressed unsafe schemes need review.
img	Image tags are removed. Alt text can be kept, ignored, or paired with a safe source URL.	Images without alt text can remove meaning from product pages, emails, and instructions.
ul, ol, li	List tags are stripped after unordered markers or ordered numbers are generated.	Nested lists and copied menu structures should be compared against the original page.
table, tr, td, th	Rows become tab-separated cells, pipe-separated cells, or readable row lines.	Merged cells, headers, and layout-only tables can lose meaning after flattening.
script, style, template, noscript	These blocks are removed by default or kept as text when selected.	Keeping this text is useful for review, not for preparing publishable content.
comments	HTML comments are omitted from the plain-text result.	Review the original source separately if comments are part of an audit trail.

Entity handling changes whether source tokens such as &,  , and numeric character references become readable characters or remain visible as entity text. Decoding is better for ordinary reading. Preserving tokens is better when you are reviewing source encoding, escaping defects, or text that will later pass through another converter.

Whitespace and output style behavior
Output Style	Whitespace Rule	Best Fit
Readable paragraphs	Block boundaries remain visible, and repeated blank lines are capped by the selected maximum.	Support replies, article copy, email copy, and ordinary review.
One block per line	Empty lines are removed so each extracted block occupies a separate output line.	Diff review, spreadsheet import, and line-by-line cleanup.
Compact one line	All runs of whitespace collapse into single spaces.	Search snippets, single-field exports, and short database notes.

Unsafe URL suppression is intentionally narrow. It keeps javascript:, vbscript:, and data: URLs out of the generated text, including simple whitespace-obfuscated forms. That does not replace a sanitizer, an allow-list, or a full security review when the original HTML will be rendered again.

Privacy Notes:

Pasted text and supported files are processed in the browser after the page loads. The HTML content, file body, extracted text, ledgers, and JSON record are not uploaded for server-side conversion.

Files are limited to one HTML, HTM, or TXT text file under 1 MB. Larger sources should be trimmed to the article, email body, or fragment that needs review.
Local processing does not make sensitive content harmless. Browser history, shared links, screenshots, downloads, and clipboard contents can still expose private text or URLs.
Stripped text is not sanitized HTML. If the original content will be rendered again, use a proper sanitizer and destination-specific security checks.

Worked Examples:

Support email copy. Paste an HTML email with an <article>, a greeting paragraph, an order link, two list items, an image with alt text, and a tracking script. With Auto content root, Readable paragraphs, Append URLs in parentheses, and Remove script/style/template blocks, Plain Text keeps the order message, appends the safe order URL, preserves the list items with dash markers, includes the image alt text, and omits the script content. Text Cleanup Ledger should show one script or style block removed.

CMS page fragment. A copied page may include header navigation before the article. Use Auto content root when the markup contains an article or main region. If Source scope shows an auto body root and the output includes menu text, switch to a smaller pasted fragment or use the body option only after confirming the body text is what you want.

Table rows for a spreadsheet handoff. Paste a small HTML table and set Table handling to Rows with tab-separated cells. Plain Text should show one line per row with tabs between cells, while Element Treatment Map records table, row, and cell counts. Check merged cells manually because flattened text cannot preserve every visual table relationship.

No visible text warning. If the source contains only a script block, a style block, or an empty template and Script/style content is set to remove those blocks, the summary can show No visible text. Change the setting to keep the text only when you are reviewing those blocks, or paste visible body content if the goal is readable copy.

FAQ:

Does stripping tags make HTML safe?

No. Stripping tags produces plain text for reading or handoff. It does not sanitize the original HTML, approve links, or prove that the same source is safe to render in another page or editor.

Why are some URLs missing from the output?

URLs using unsafe schemes such as javascript:, vbscript:, or data: are suppressed from Plain Text. Check Link and Image Ledger to see which item was suppressed and why.

What file types can I load?

Browse HTML and drag-and-drop accept one HTML, HTM, or TXT text file under 1 MB. If the file is larger, trim the source or paste the section that needs conversion.

Should I decode or preserve HTML entities?

Use Decode entities to text for readable copy. Use Preserve entity tokens when you need to review the exact escaping, such as & or numeric character references.

Why did the result include navigation or footer text?

The selected content root may have fallen back to the body instead of a focused article or main region. Check Source scope, then paste a smaller fragment or choose the scope that matches the part of the page you want.

Glossary:

Content root: The selected part of the parsed document used for extraction, such as an article, main region, body, or document title plus body.
Block boundary: A spacing break created by elements such as headings, paragraphs, sections, lists, and tables.
Entity: An HTML character reference such as & or   that can be decoded to a visible character or kept as source text.
Unsafe URL scheme: A link or source scheme such as javascript:, vbscript:, or data: that is suppressed from the plain-text output.
Reference list: A link-handling style that leaves numbered markers in the text and places safe URL destinations at the bottom.
Ledger: A review table that records counts, treatments, warnings, and source-to-output decisions for the current extraction.

References:

HTML Standard: Dynamic Markup Insertion, WHATWG.
DOMParser: parseFromString(), MDN Web Docs.
HTML Elements Reference, MDN Web Docs.
Cross Site Scripting Prevention Cheat Sheet, OWASP Cheat Sheet Series.