Zapier HTML Formatter Guide

When automating workflows in Zapier, HTML can appear in text fields, descriptions, or message bodies. To keep your data readable and safe as it moves between apps, you can use the Formatter by Zapier app to encode and decode HTML in your Zaps.

This how-to article walks you through the exact steps, options, and best practices for working with HTML in Zapier so your automations stay clean, accurate, and secure.

Why use Zapier Formatter for HTML?

Many apps connected to Zapier send or receive content that includes HTML tags, special characters, or entities. If these are not handled correctly, your output may show raw code instead of formatted text, or characters may break when passed between steps.

Formatter by Zapier solves this by letting you transform HTML safely inside a Zap. You can:

• Decode HTML entities into plain text.
• Encode plain text into HTML entities.
• Protect special characters when posting to apps that require HTML-safe content.

Using Formatter inside Zapier avoids manual fixes and lets you standardize how HTML behaves across different apps.

How Zapier HTML encoding and decoding works

The Formatter by Zapier app includes a Text event that supports HTML encoding and decoding. At a high level:

• Decode HTML entities converts encoded entities like & or < into readable characters such as & and <.
• Encode HTML entities converts characters like &, <, and > into HTML-safe entities to prevent them from being interpreted as HTML code.

These operations run entirely inside your Zapier workflow as a standard action step, so you can insert them wherever HTML needs to be transformed.

Set up Zapier Formatter to decode HTML

Use decoding when an app sends encoded HTML or entities and you want to display human-readable text in a later step.

Step 1: Add Formatter by Zapier to your Zap

1. Open your Zap in the Zap editor.
2. Click + Add step where you want to work with HTML.
3. Search for and select Formatter by Zapier.
4. Under Event, choose Text, then click Continue.

Step 2: Choose the Decode HTML option

1. In the Transform dropdown, select Decode HTML Entities (or the equivalent decode option in your Formatter version).
2. In the Input field, map the data from a previous Zapier step that contains the HTML or encoded entities you want to decode.

The input might come from:

• An email body containing encoded HTML.
• A form response that includes HTML entities.
• A message field from another app connected via Zapier.

Step 3: Test the HTML decoding

1. Click Test or Test step in the Formatter step.
2. Review the output field. Encoded entities like & should now appear as &, and HTML should be converted to readable text as supported.
3. If the output looks correct, proceed to the next step of your Zap.

Use the decoded output field as the input for later Zapier actions, such as sending a notification, updating a record, or posting content into another app.

Set up Zapier Formatter to encode HTML

Use encoding when you need to protect special characters or ensure that content is HTML-safe before sending it to another service.

Step 1: Add a Formatter step for encoding

1. In your Zap, click + Add step where you need to transform plain text into HTML-safe output.
2. Select Formatter by Zapier as the app.
3. Choose the Text event and click Continue.

Step 2: Choose the Encode HTML option

1. In the Transform dropdown, select Encode HTML Entities (or the equivalent encode option).
2. In the Input field, map the plain text or mixed content you want to encode from a previous step in Zapier.

This text might include characters such as:

• & (ampersand)
• < (less than)
• > (greater than)
• Quotes or other symbols that need HTML-safe representation

Step 3: Test the HTML encoding

1. Run a test on the Formatter step.
2. Confirm that special characters now appear as entities like &, <, and >.
3. Use this encoded output in the next Zapier action that expects or requires HTML-safe content.

Common Zapier use cases for HTML Formatter

Here are several situations where using Formatter by Zapier to encode or decode HTML is especially helpful:

• Cleaning email content: Decode HTML entities from incoming email bodies before sending summaries to chat tools or CRMs.
• Preparing web content: Encode text before sending it to apps that store HTML in fields, preventing broken layouts or invalid markup.
• Handling form submissions: Normalize text submitted via web forms that may contain encoded characters.
• Cross-app consistency: Make sure text looks the same when moved between different tools connected to Zapier, even if they treat HTML differently.

Best practices when using Zapier for HTML

To get reliable results with HTML in Zapier, keep these tips in mind:

• Test with real sample data: Always pull a recent sample from your trigger step so you can see exactly how HTML appears before and after Formatter runs.
• Avoid double encoding: If you encode content more than once, entities can stack (for example, & becoming &). Only encode where necessary.
• Decode only when needed: Some downstream apps require encoded HTML. Do not decode if the receiving app expects entities.
• Chain transformations carefully: If your Zap uses multiple Formatter steps, document the order of encode and decode actions so HTML remains predictable.

Advanced Zapier tips for HTML workflows

For more complex workflows, you can combine HTML encoding and decoding with additional Formatter by Zapier features:

• Text replace: After decoding, use Replace or Truncate transformations to clean or shorten long HTML-derived content.
• Line-item support: If your HTML is stored in line items, apply Formatter in conjunction with other Zapier utilities that handle arrays or lists.
• Multi-step automations: Place encode steps just before sending data to apps that need HTML-safe content, and decode steps right after receiving encoded text.

Learn more about Zapier HTML tools

To explore the original help documentation for HTML encoding and decoding in Formatter by Zapier, visit the official guide at this Zapier support article.

If you need strategic help designing or scaling automation workflows beyond HTML handling, you can find expert consulting and resources at Consultevo.

By configuring Formatter correctly inside Zapier and following the steps in this guide, you can control how HTML behaves across your apps, reduce errors, and keep your automated processes clear and consistent.

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