URL Encoder / Decoder
Safely encode URL components or decode URL-encoded strings.
How to Use URL Encoder / Decoder
- Enter the URL or text you want to encode in the input field.
- Click 'Encode' to convert special characters to percent-encoded format (%20, %3A, etc.), or paste an encoded URL and click 'Decode' to make it readable.
- Copy the result with the copy button.
About URL Encoder / Decoder
The URL Encoder/Decoder converts text to and from percent-encoded (URL-encoded) format. URL encoding replaces unsafe characters with a '%' followed by their hexadecimal value, ensuring that URLs are transmitted correctly across the internet. This is essential when building query strings, passing parameters to APIs, encoding form data, or debugging URLs with special characters. Reserved characters like spaces, ampersands (&), question marks (?), equals signs (=), and hash symbols (#) have special meaning in URLs and must be encoded when used as data values. Our tool supports both `encodeURIComponent` (for query parameters) and full URL encoding, handling all international characters and emoji properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do I need to URL encode?
You need URL encoding whenever you're passing data through URLs that contains special characters — spaces become %20, ampersands become %26, etc. This is critical for query strings, form submissions, and API requests.
What's the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI encodes a full URL but preserves characters that have special meaning (like / and ?). encodeURIComponent encodes everything including those special characters, making it suitable for encoding individual query parameter values.
Why do spaces appear as %20 or +?
In URL encoding, spaces can be represented as %20 (standard percent-encoding) or as + (application/x-www-form-urlencoded format used in HTML forms). Both are valid; %20 is more universal and recommended for path segments.