Why Do I Get Question Marks On HTML Code:

January 30, 2025

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Several developers are facing trouble with HTML code during website development. Sometimes, these are small issues and are moderate. In html, developers face unwanted question mark issues (?) during the design. Resolving these unexpected symbol issues becomes a challenging task for the developer. If you are a beginner and experienced and facing these challenges during your coding, then this blog is for you.

In this blog, we will explore the cause of these unwanted symbols like question marks (?). Apart from this, these issues can be solved using tricky methods.

7 Causes Of Question Marks In HTML

There are a lot of causes of unexpected question marks (?) that a developer faces during the website development. Some causes are outlined below:

1. Encoding Issues

Text coding troubles are generated due to the incorrect HTML encoding issues format. It is a common HTML encoding mistakes in the code. When you use some special characters in your html code and save it in the wrong encoding format. Then the browser fails to interpret the code correctly, and you get question marks on html code.

How To Fix It:

Always save your html file with UTF-8 encoding.
Ensure that your working text editor verifies your file.

2. Special Characters Not Supported

Some of the special characters in HTML are not supported in the code, it can converted the HTML question mark symbol. These characters are the being a non standard character and symbols of different languages.

How To Fix It:

To represent the special character, use HTML entities.
Your editor supports special characters.

3. Corrupted File Or Database Encoding

Suppose a website takes content from a database. If the content is mismatching database encoding, then a question mark appears in coding. On this condition, to resolve these issues, you have to check your database is not corrupted.

How To Fix It:

Your database always uses the UTF-8 encoding.
Check the setting of your database connection for the encoding formats.

4. Improper File Transfer Or Corruption

Downloading the file in an improper way become causes to get question marks on html code. If an HTML file is transferred via FTP (File transfer protocol) by the wrong transfer mode, then HTML character encoding problems are generated on the code. In this condition, question marks are shown in the HTML code.

How To Fix It:

Transfer the file to the binary modes.
Maintain the HTML & UTF-8 encoding after the edits.

6. Font Rendering Issues

If the font used on your webpage does not support certain characters, Browser display issues in HTML might replace them with question marks.

Sometimes, HTML code rendering issues can create an error in the code. If the webpage does not support a certain font and character on the code, then it can be replaced by the question mark.

How To Fix It:

Use the different fonts that are used in a wide range of characters.
Use fonts like Arial, noto, roboto, and noto sans.
In CSS, define the fallback fonts.

Code:

body {

font-family: “Noto Sans,” Arial, sans-serif;

}

7. Incorrect Content-Type Headers

Sometimes the server sends incorrect content to the browser that cannot read interpreter content on the proper method. For this reason, it replaced the question marks in HTML output.

How To Fix It:

Ensure the server sends correct encoding in HTTPS headers.

Code:

{Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8}

Conclusion

Question marks in HTML are the biggest issues faced by developers on their code. You can analyze the problem and resolve it through the techniques mentioned above. Through these methods, you can resolve your question mark issues in minimal time. Apart from this, you have to use valid syntax and avoid unrecognized symbols and characters. These methods reduce the probability of question marks on your HTML code.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Does the Question Mark Mean In HTML?

In html, a question mark mean is an error that is generated due to encoding errors in HTML, such as characters, font, and many other issues.

2. Why Is My Image Showing Up As Question Mark HTML?

It is an IMG tag issue on the code. In this condition, the user sees the blue question mark on the display. This issue is generated due to load data from the internet.