BBCode to HTML

Turn forum BBCode into HTML

BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) is the square-bracket markup used by forums such as phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB and many gaming communities: [b]bold[/b], [i]italic[/i], [url=https://example.com]link[/url], [img]...[/img], [quote]...[/quote] and [list]. It's simple and safe for forums, but websites need HTML.

Paste BBCode and this converter outputs the matching HTML, so [b]Hello[/b] becomes <strong>Hello</strong> (or <b>), ready for a blog, CMS or newsletter.

It's especially useful when migrating old forum content, guides or signatures to a modern site.

How to use the bbcode to html

1. Paste the BBCode text.
2. Submit to convert.
3. Copy the HTML output.
4. Paste it into your CMS's HTML or code view.

Examples

Bold, italic and a link

Input: [b]Bold[/b] and [i]italic[/i] [url=https://mybotsy.com]My Botsy[/url]

Output:

<strong>Bold</strong> and <em>italic</em> <a href="https://mybotsy.com">My Botsy</a>

Quotes and colors

Input: [quote]Hello[/quote] [color=red]red[/color]

Output: <blockquote>Hello</blockquote> <span style="color: red">red</span>

A list

Input: [list][*]One[*]Two[/list]

Output: <ul><li>One</li><li>Two</li></ul>

An image and an unclosed tag

Input: [img]https://example.com/cat.png[/img] [b]unclosed

Output: <img src="https://example.com/cat.png" /> <strong>unclosed</strong>

Unclosed tags are closed for you, so a forgotten [/b] doesn't turn the rest of the page bold.

Font size quirk

Input: [size=20]big[/size]

Output: <span style="font-size: 20%">big</span>

Change 20% to a size such as 1.25em or 20px in the output.

Common uses

• Migrating forum posts and guides to a blog or knowledge base.
• Reusing forum signatures or announcements on a website.
• Converting game community guides into web pages.
• Previewing how BBCode content will look as HTML.
• Turning old forum rules and FAQs into web pages.

Tips and things to know

• Different forums support slightly different tags. Custom tags may not convert and might need manual edits.
• Check image links after converting; old forum image hosts often disappear.
• Clean the result further with the HTML minifier, or strip formatting entirely with the HTML tags remover.
• Writing new content? Markdown to HTML is a more modern alternative.

Edge cases and limitations

• [size=20] becomes font-size: 20%, which is tiny. Forums often treat sizes as pixels or points, so adjust these in the output.
• Any HTML already in the input is removed before converting, so mixed BBCode and HTML loses the HTML part.
• [spoiler] becomes a div with the class spoiler. It isn't hidden until your site's CSS styles that class.
• [u] becomes an underline span, [s] becomes del, [code] becomes pre and code, and [center] becomes a centered div.

Frequently asked questions

What is BBCode?

A lightweight markup language with tags in square brackets, used mainly on internet forums.

Is BBCode the same as HTML?

No. BBCode is a limited, safer markup that forums convert to HTML when displaying posts.

Which BBCode tags are supported?

Common tags like [b], [i], [u], [s], [url], [img], [quote], [code], [list] and [color] are widely supported.

Can I convert HTML back to BBCode?

This tool converts BBCode to HTML only.

Is the HTML output safe to publish?

HTML in the input is stripped before converting, which removes most risks. Still check links and image sources from old posts before publishing.

Does it support [code] blocks?

Yes. [code] becomes a pre and code block, which keeps spacing and line breaks.

Related tools

• Markdown to HTML: Convert markdown snippets to raw HTML code.
• HTML tags remover: Easily remove all HTML tags from a block of text.
• HTML entity converter: Encode or decode HTML entities for any given input.
• HTML minifier: Minify your HTML by removing all the unnecessary characters.
• URL extractor: Extract http/https URLs from any kind of text content.