URL encoding - also called percent-encoding - is a mechanism to represent special characters in a URL using a safe ASCII format. Our free online URL encoder and decoder lets you convert any string to and from percent-encoded format instantly, right in your browser.
What is URL Encoding?
URLs can only contain a limited set of characters defined by the RFC 3986 standard. Characters outside this set - like spaces, accents, ampersands, and slashes - must be encoded as a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits. For example:
- Space →
%20 &→%26=→%3Dé→%C3%A9
This ensures the URL is transmitted correctly across different systems and browsers regardless of the character encoding they use. Decoding reverses the process, turning %3D back into =.
How to Use the URL Encode/Decode Tool
- Paste your text or URL - enter the string you want to process into the input field. It can be a full URL, a query string parameter value, or any plain text.
- Choose encode or decode - click the "Encode" button to convert special characters to percent-encoding, or "Decode" to convert a percent-encoded string back to readable text.
- Copy the result - the output appears immediately. Use the copy button to grab it for use in your code, browser, or terminal.
Common Use Cases
- Encoding query string parameter values before appending them to a URL
- Decoding obfuscated redirect URLs to inspect their destination
- Fixing broken links that contain spaces or special characters
- Preparing API request parameters with special characters
- Debugging OAuth tokens and callback URLs
- Encoding file names that contain spaces before using them in URLs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI encodes a full URL and leaves characters like /, ?, and # untouched because they have special meaning in a URL. encodeURIComponent encodes everything except letters, digits, and -_.!~*'(), making it suitable for encoding individual parameter values. This tool uses the component encoding approach.
Does it handle Unicode characters like Chinese or Arabic?
Yes. Unicode characters are first converted to their UTF-8 byte sequences, and each byte is then percent-encoded. For example, café becomes caf%C3%A9.
Why does my URL have + signs instead of %20?
Some older systems use + to represent spaces in form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded format). Strict URL encoding uses %20. The two are not always interchangeable depending on context.
Is this tool safe for encoding passwords or sensitive data? The encoding/decoding runs entirely in your browser. However, URL encoding is not encryption - it is a reversible transformation. Never use it as a security measure.
Use the URL Encode/Decode tool free, no sign-up required.