Decode HTML escaped characters back to normal string in C#

Question

My question is simple. I searched a little online, but could not find a quick way to unescape HTML text in a string.

For example:
"< > &" should be returned to "< > &" as a string.

Is there a quick way, or do I have to write my own unescaper?

Answer 1

use System.Web.HttpUtility.HtmlDecode or System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlDecode

var decoded = HttpUtility.HtmlDecode("< > &");

Answer 2

If you're using .NET 4.5 then you can use the HttpUtility.HtmlDecode method.

Answer 3

HttpUtility.UrlDecode("Your escaped String", System.Text.Encoding.Default);