[c#] How can I decode HTML characters in C#?

I have email addresses encoded with HTML character entities. Is there anything in .NET that can convert them to plain strings?

To decode HTML take a look below code

string s = "Svendborg Værft A/S";
string a = HttpUtility.HtmlDecode(s);
Response.Write(a);

Output is like

 Svendborg Værft A/S

On .Net 4.0:

System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlDecode()

No need to include assembly for a C# project

If there is no Server context (i.e your running offline), you can use HttpUtility.HtmlDecode.

As @CQ says, you need to use HttpUtility.HtmlDecode, but it's not available in a non-ASP .NET project by default.

For a non-ASP .NET application, you need to add a reference to System.Web.dll. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer, select "Add Reference", then browse the list for System.Web.dll.

Now that the reference is added, you should be able to access the method using the fully-qualified name System.Web.HttpUtility.HtmlDecode or insert a using statement for System.Web to make things easier.

It is also worth mentioning that if you're using HtmlAgilityPack like I was, you should use HtmlAgilityPack.HtmlEntity.DeEntitize(). It takes a string and returns a string.

Write static a method into some utility class, which accept string as parameter and return the decoded html string.

Include the using System.Web.HttpUtility into your class

public static string HtmlEncode(string text)
    {
        if(text.length > 0){

           return HttpUtility.HtmlDecode(text);
        }else{

         return text;
        }

    }

For strings containing   I've had to double-decode the string. First decode would turn it into the second pass would correctly decode it to the expected character.

Use Server.HtmlDecode to decode the HTML entities. If you want to escape the HTML, i.e. display the < and > character to the user, use Server.HtmlEncode.

For .net 4.0

Add a reference to System.net.dll to the project with using System.Net; then use the following extensions

// Html encode/decode
    public static string HtmDecode(this string htmlEncodedString)
    {
        if(htmlEncodedString.Length > 0)
        {
            return System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlDecode(htmlEncodedString);
        }
        else
        {
            return htmlEncodedString;
        }
    }

    public static string HtmEncode(this string htmlDecodedString)
    {
        if(htmlDecodedString.Length > 0)
        {
            return System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlEncode(htmlDecodedString);
        }
        else
        {
            return htmlDecodedString;
        }
    }