What is an HTML file?
HTML is the file a web page is made of. Any browser opens one directly, which makes it a handy way to hand someone a formatted document without needing an office program at either end. You can convert HTML files here, both into the format and out of it.
Specification
| Full name | HyperText Markup Language |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .html, .htm |
| Media type | text/html |
| Compression | Uncompressed |
| Transparency | — |
| Animation | — |
| Multiple pages | Not supported |
| Colour depth | UTF-8 markup rendered through the CSS box model |
| Size limits | — |
| Introduced | 1993 |
| Developed by | Tim Berners-Lee, now WHATWG |
| Standard | Open |
| Browser support | Every browser, including older ones |
What HTML is used for
- Web pages and web application interfaces
- HTML email templates rendered inside mail clients
- Exported reports and dashboards meant to be opened in a browser
- An intermediate format when moving content between document tools
Strengths and limitations
What HTML does well
- Renders in every browser with no plugin, viewer or conversion
- Reflows to any screen size, which fixed-layout formats cannot do
- Text is semantic and machine readable, so search and accessibility work well
Where HTML falls short
- Appearance depends on CSS, fonts and the browser, so it is not fixed layout
- A single file often references external images, styles and scripts
- Printing and pagination are unreliable compared with PDF
Convert HTML to
Every target this format can be written out as, each on its own page.
Convert to HTML
Everything that can be turned into a HTML file.
Questions about HTML
What is a .html file?
HTML is the file a web page is made of. The extension .html or .htm identifies it, and its media type is text/html.
How do I open an HTML file?
Any current browser will open it directly, so dragging the file into a tab is usually enough. Most operating systems also preview it without extra software.
Is HTML lossy or lossless?
Uncompressed. Nothing is discarded, so repeated saves never degrade the contents.
What is HTML good for?
Renders in every browser with no plugin, viewer or conversion. Reflows to any screen size, which fixed-layout formats cannot do. Text is semantic and machine readable, so search and accessibility work well. In practice that makes it a good fit for web pages and web application interfaces, and HTML email templates rendered inside mail clients.
What are the drawbacks of HTML?
Appearance depends on CSS, fonts and the browser, so it is not fixed layout. A single file often references external images, styles and scripts. Printing and pagination are unreliable compared with PDF.