Developer

URL Encoder & Decoder

Free URL encoder and decoder. Percent-encode text for use in URLs or decode encoded URI components. Runs in your browser.

YOUR WORKSPACEFree to use. No sign-up.

Text to encode or decode

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Deep dive guides

A LITTLE CONTEXT · 4 MIN READURL Encoding in Practice: What Gets Encoded and Why

All 5 related guides

HTTP Status Codes Explained: What 200, 301, 404 and 500 Really Mean — The five HTTP response families, what 200, 301, 404 and 500 really mean, 401 vs 403, redirect choices, and the 200-with-error anti-pattern.
URL Encoding: When %20 Matters — How percent-encoding works: which characters may ride bare, why spaces become %20 or +, how %XX hides UTF-8 bytes, the double-encoding trap, and how to parse a URL into parts.
URL Encoding in Practice: What Gets Encoded and Why — What encodeURIComponent really does: which characters ride bare, why non-ASCII text grows, when to encode values instead of whole URLs, and when to decode.
Anatomy of a URL: What a Parser Sees — Reading a URL the way a browser does: scheme, host, port, path, query and fragment — with query values decoded one by one and polite defaults for missing parts.
Punycode Explained: How International Domains Fit into ASCII — Why münchen.de is really xn--mnchen-3ya: how Punycode encodes non-ASCII domain labels, what xn-- means, and how to decode it back.

How url encoder & decoder works

URL encoding (also called percent encoding) converts special characters into a format that can be safely transmitted in a URL. Characters that are not allowed in a URL, like spaces, ampersands, and non-ASCII characters, are replaced with a percent sign followed by their hexadecimal code (e.g. space becomes %20).

This tool uses the standard encodeURIComponent and decodeURIComponent functions. Encoding replaces all unsafe characters. Decoding reverses the process, converting percent-encoded sequences back to their original characters.

URL encoding is essential when building query strings, passing data in URLs, or working with APIs. For example, a search query like "hello world & co" must be encoded to "hello%20world%20%26%20co" before it can be used in a URL.

Frequently asked questions

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding (percent encoding) replaces special characters with a percent sign followed by their hex code. This ensures URLs remain valid when they contain spaces, symbols, or non-ASCII characters.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI preserves URL-meaningful characters like /, ?, and =. encodeURIComponent encodes everything including those. This tool uses encodeURIComponent, which is correct for query parameter values.

How do I decode a URL-encoded string?

Switch to Decode mode, paste the encoded string, and the tool converts it back to readable text. For example, hello%20world becomes hello world.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All encoding and decoding happens in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, so it is safe for sensitive data.

URL Encoder & Decoder

Deep dive guides

How url encoder & decoder works

Frequently asked questions

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