BBCode to HTML Converter
Convert forum BBCode to clean, safe HTML online — free, instant, and 100% in your browser. Paste markup from phpBB, vBulletin, XenForo, or MyBB and get sanitized HTML with a live rendered preview. No signup, no uploads, no server.
How the BBCode to HTML conversion works
Paste your BBCode in the box above — the converter parses it with a real recursive parser (not fragile find-and-replace), so nested tags like [quote][b]bold[/b][/quote] convert correctly even when forums mangle the markup. Every run happens locally in your browser: nothing is uploaded, which also makes it safe to convert private or draft forum content.
Sanitized by design
Raw HTML in your input is escaped, never executed. Link and image URLs are allow-listed to http(s):// only — javascript: and data: payloads are stripped, keeping the link text. Colors accept CSS named colors and hex codes; font sizes are clamped to sane ranges; YouTube embeds only accept valid 11-character video IDs. The output is safe to paste into a CMS, blog, or email template.
Built for forum migration
Moving from phpBB, vBulletin, XenForo, SMF, or MyBB to WordPress, Discourse, or a static site? Convert legacy posts to clean semantic HTML first, then import — quotes become <blockquote>, lists become <ul>/<ol>, code blocks become <pre><code>, and spoilers become native <details> elements.
Supported BBCode tags
| BBCode | HTML output | Notes |
|---|---|---|
[b]…[/b] | <strong> | Bold |
[i]…[/i] | <em> | Italic |
[u]…[/u] | <u> | Underline |
[s]…[/s] | <s> | Strikethrough |
[sub], [sup] | <sub>, <sup> | Sub/superscript |
[url]…[/url], [url=…]…[/url] | <a href> | http(s) only; unsafe schemes stripped |
[email]…[/email] | <a href="mailto:"> | Validated email format |
[img]…[/img] | <img> | http(s) only, lazy-loaded |
[quote]…[/quote], [quote=Name] | <blockquote> + <cite> | Optional author attribution |
[code]…[/code] | <pre><code> | Content never parsed — raw & escaped |
[pre]…[/pre] | <pre> | Preformatted text |
[list]…[*]…[/list] | <ul><li> | [list=1] / [list=a] → <ol> |
[color=red]…[/color] | <span style="color:"> | Named colors + #hex; invalid ignored |
[size=4]…[/size] | <span style="font-size:"> | 1–7 scale, px/em/rem/% clamped |
[font=Arial]…[/font] | <span style="font-family:"> | Injection characters rejected |
[center] [left] [right] [justify] | <div style="text-align:"> | Alignment wrappers |
[spoiler]…[/spoiler] | <details><summary> | Native collapsible spoiler |
[youtube]ID[/youtube] | <iframe> embed | Strict 11-char video ID validation |
[hr], [br] | <hr>, <br> | Self-closing tags |
Unknown or custom forum tags are passed through as plain text (lenient mode) — they are escaped, never executed. Unclosed tags are auto-closed; mismatched closing tags are kept as text.
Frequently asked questions
What is BBCode?
BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) is a lightweight markup language used by forum software such as phpBB, vBulletin, XenForo, SMF, and MyBB. Members format posts with square-bracket tags like [b], [quote], and [url]; the forum engine parses them into HTML when the page renders. This tool performs that same parsing step locally in your browser and hands you the resulting HTML.
Which BBCode tags does this converter support?
Text formatting ([b], [i], [u], [s], [sub], [sup]), links ([url], [email]), media ([img], [youtube]), structure ([quote] with optional author, [code], [pre], [list] with [*] items including ordered [list=1] and [list=a]), styling ([color], [size], [font]), alignment ([center], [left], [right], [justify]), plus [spoiler], [hr], and [br]. See the tag reference table above for the exact HTML each tag produces.
How does it handle nested BBCode tags?
With a real recursive-descent parser, not regex find-and-replace — so nested and mixed tags like [quote][b]bold[/b] and [i]italic[/i][/quote] convert with correct nesting, including lists inside quotes and formatting inside list items. Unclosed tags are auto-closed leniently, and mismatched closing tags are kept as plain text instead of breaking the output.
Is the converted HTML safe from XSS and malicious code?
Yes. Raw HTML in your input is escaped, never executed. Link and image URLs are allow-listed to http(s) only — javascript: and data: payloads are stripped while keeping the link text. Colors accept only CSS named colors and hex codes, font sizes are clamped to sane ranges, font-family values reject injection characters, and YouTube embeds only accept valid 11-character video IDs. The output is safe to paste into a CMS or email template.
Which forum software does this work with?
Any forum using standard BBCode: phpBB, vBulletin, XenForo, SMF (Simple Machines Forum), MyBB, and most bulletin boards derived from them. If your forum uses custom BBCode tags, this converter passes them through as escaped plain text (lenient mode) rather than guessing — nothing is executed.
Can I use this to migrate forum content to a new platform?
Yes — that is one of the main use cases. Paste legacy phpBB, vBulletin, or XenForo posts, copy the clean semantic HTML output, and import it into WordPress, Discourse, a static site, or a knowledge base. Quotes become <blockquote>, lists become <ul>/<ol>, code blocks become <pre><code>, and spoilers become native <details> elements.
Do line breaks and lists convert correctly?
Line breaks are converted to <br> by default (toggleable), except inside [code] and [pre] blocks where whitespace is preserved exactly. Bullet lists ([*] items) become <ul><li>, while [list=1] and [list=a] produce ordered <ol> lists with numeric or alphabetic markers.
Related tools
- HTML to BBCode — convert HTML markup back into forum BBCode.
- Rich Text Converter — convert between WYSIWYG HTML, Markdown, BBCode, and plain text.
Free tool by NRTechStudio