AO3 HTML Formatter
Paste your chapter. Get clean HTML that survives AO3's HTML editor — paragraphs, italics, bold and scene breaks intact. Everything happens in your browser.
Your preview appears here.
Posting to AO3 without losing formatting
- On AO3, open Post New Work (or edit a chapter) and switch the Work Text editor to HTML.
- Paste the HTML from this page. Paragraph breaks, italics and centred scene breaks will carry over.
- Use Preview on AO3 before posting — check that scene breaks landed where you expect.
AO3 caps a single chapter at 500,000 characters, including HTML. If you're near that, split the chapter.
More tools in the kit
- Fanfic generatorDraft a full scene for any fandom and ship.
- Headcanon generatorCharacter-specific headcanons with reasons.
- Relationship headcanonsHow your ship acts together, with scene sparks.
- Scenario generator"How would they react if…" for any cast.
- Ship name generatorBlend two names into a portmanteau.
- Prompt generatorTrope + setting + twist, plus a daily prompt.
- Incorrect quotesChaotic Tumblr-style quotes for 1–6 characters.
- Dialogue studioVoice-true dialogue scenes on demand.
- Ship dynamicsThe classic dynamics and a ship analyser.
- OC generatorOriginal characters without Mary Sue traits.
- Backstory generatorThe wound, the lie and the secrets.
- AU generatorCoffee shop, fantasy, soulmate and more.
- OTP & angst prompt listsOTP, angst, fluff, dialogue and enemies-to-lovers prompts.
- Trope glossaryWhat the AO3 tags actually mean.
- Title generatorTitles that sound like fic, not a textbook.
Questions writers ask
Why does my fic lose its formatting when I paste it into AO3?
AO3's Rich Text editor tries to interpret what you paste, and word processors add hidden styling that AO3 strips. Pasting clean HTML into AO3's HTML tab is the most reliable way to keep paragraphs, italics and scene breaks.
Which formatting does the converter understand?
Blank lines between paragraphs, *italics* or _italics_, **bold**, # headings, lists starting with - or 1., and scene breaks written as ***, --- or * * *. Each line becomes its own paragraph, so single or double line breaks both work.
Is the HTML safe for AO3?
Yes — it only uses tags on AO3's allowed list (p, br, em, strong, h3–h6, ul, ol, li) and escapes everything else, so nothing you paste can break the page.
Does my text leave my device?
No. The conversion happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.