HTMLtotext

HTMLtotext refers to a class of software tools and libraries designed to convert HTML documents into plain text. The goal is to extract readable content while discarding markup, scripts, and styles that are not part of the textual information.

Core functionality typically includes parsing HTML, removing scripts and style elements, decoding HTML entities, and normalizing whitespace. Many implementations preserve structural cues such as headings, paragraphs, and list items, representing them with line breaks or simple markers. Some options also preserve preformatted blocks or extract image alt text.

Output is usually a plain text string suitable for search indexing, text-only displays, or natural language processing pipelines. Some tools support streaming or incremental parsing and provide APIs for integration. They also address encoding compatibility and resilience to malformed markup.

Common use cases include content extraction from web pages, email client rendering of HTML as text, accessibility tooling, and data mining. The term HTMLtotext may refer to multiple implementations, including libraries and standalone converters such as html2text and similar projects.

Limitations include the loss of visual formatting and layout, potential ambiguity in preserving links, and reliance on the parser to handle malformed HTML. The quality of conversion depends on the HTML structure and the sophistication of the tool.