What is ?
is the HTML entity for a non-breaking space — a space character that prevents the browser from inserting a line break at that position. It looks identical to a normal space but keeps the words on either side together on the same line no matter how narrow the viewport gets.
Common uses: keeping a number and its unit together (10 km), preventing a name from wrapping (Mr. Smith), or adding visual padding in table cells. The named entity is and the numeric equivalent is  .
When not to use for spacing: if you want layout or whitespace for design purposes, use CSS (padding, margin, or gap) instead. Using many consecutive entities to indent or align content is a sign that CSS should be doing that work.
How to add a space in HTML
There are several ways to add space in HTML, each with a different purpose:
— non-breaking space. Keeps two words on the same line. The most common HTML space code. — en space, roughly half an em wide. — em space, roughly the width of the letter M. Equivalent to a tab stop in typography. — thin space, used in typographic contexts like surrounding em dashes.- CSS — for visual spacing,
padding,margin,gap, andletter-spacingare always the right approach.
When to use HTML entities
- Reserved HTML characters —
<,>,&, and"have special meaning in HTML. To display them literally, escape them as<,>,&, and". - HTML symbols — mathematical symbols, currency signs, arrows, and characters not available on a standard keyboard can be inserted as entities.
- Non-breaking spaces —
prevents line wrapping between two words. - Copyright and trademark —
©(©),®(®), and™(™) are frequently needed entities.
Named vs. numeric entities
Named entities like © are easier to read and remember. Numeric entities express the Unicode code point in decimal (©) or hexadecimal (©). All three produce the same output: ©. Named entities are supported by all browsers for standard HTML symbols — the full list is defined by the WHATWG HTML Standard's named character references table; numeric entities work for any Unicode character reference.
Do you still need entities in UTF-8 documents?
If your HTML file is saved as UTF-8 (the default for modern web pages), most special characters can be typed or pasted directly. You only need to escape the five reserved HTML characters (< > & " '). Entities remain useful in template systems and anywhere HTML strings are built programmatically from plain ASCII.
Frequently asked questions
What does mean?
stands for non-breaking space. It inserts a space character (Unicode U+00A0) that the browser treats differently from a regular space — it will not collapse multiple instances and the browser will not wrap a line at that space. It is the most commonly looked-up HTML entity.
What is & in HTML?
& is the HTML entity for the ampersand character &. Because & is the start character for all HTML entities, any literal ampersand in HTML content must be written as & to avoid being misinterpreted as the start of an entity sequence.
How do I write the copyright symbol in HTML?
Use © or the numeric equivalent ©. Both render as ©. In a UTF-8 document you can also paste the © character directly — modern browsers handle it correctly either way.
What is the difference between and a regular space?
A regular space is a word-break opportunity — the browser may wrap a line there. is a non-breaking space — the browser keeps the words joined across that space no matter how narrow the container is. A regular space also collapses (multiple spaces become one); does not collapse.