🔍Regex Recipes

HTML Tag Stripper (WARNING)

Basic HTML tag removal pattern. WARNING: Regex cannot reliably parse HTML - use proper HTML parser.

Pattern

<[^>]+>

Explanation

Matches anything between < and >. IMPORTANT: This fails on malformed HTML, comments, CDATA, scripts. Use HTML parser instead.

Examples

Simple tag

Input

<p>Hello</p>

Output

Strips to: Hello

With attributes

Input

<div class="test">Text</div>

Output

Strips to: Text

Fails on script

Input

<script>if(a<b){}</script>

Output

⚠️ Breaks on < in script!

Code Examples

JavaScript

// ❌ DON'T USE REGEX FOR HTML
const badApproach = html.replace(/<[^>]+>/g, '');

// ✅ USE PROPER HTML PARSER
function stripHTMLSafely(html) {
  const tmp = document.createElement('div');
  tmp.innerHTML = html;
  return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || '';
}

// For Node.js, use libraries like:
// - jsdom
// - htmlparser2
// - cheerio

Try it Now

Open in Strip HTML Tool

💡 Tips

Use DOMParser or libraries (jsdom, cheerio)
For sanitization, use DOMPurify
Regex is only OK for guaranteed simple HTML
Test with malformed and malicious input

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

CRITICAL: Regex cannot properly parse HTML
Fails on: comments, CDATA, doctype, script content
Security risk: can miss malicious content
Breaks on < and > in attributes or content
Use proper HTML parser/sanitizer