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URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode special characters for safe URL usage or decode percent-encoded URLs back to readable text.

Related Guide

How to Encode and Decode URLs Online

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About This Tool

Free URL encoder and decoder online — percent-encode any string for safe use in URLs, or decode percent-encoded strings back to readable text. Runs entirely in your browser. URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) replaces unsafe characters like spaces, &, =, ?, #, and non-ASCII characters with their %XX hex equivalents so they can be safely transmitted in a URL. Developers use this tool to encode query parameters before appending them to URLs, to decode encoded URLs from API responses or server logs, to debug URL construction in web applications, and to prepare strings for use in curl commands. Handles both encodeURIComponent (for query parameters) and encodeURI (for full URLs).

How to Use

  1. 1

    Paste your string

    Enter the text, URL, or query parameter value you want to encode or decode.

  2. 2

    Choose mode

    Select Encode to convert to percent-encoded format, or Decode to convert back to plain text.

  3. 3

    Copy the result

    Copy the encoded or decoded string.

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters need to be URL-encoded?+
Spaces (→ %20 or +), &, =, ?, #, %, +, and non-ASCII characters must be encoded. Letters (A–Z, a–z), digits (0–9), and the characters - _ . ~ are safe and do not need encoding.
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?+
encodeURI encodes a full URL and preserves characters like /, :, and ? that have meaning in a URL structure. encodeURIComponent encodes a URL component (like a query parameter value) and encodes those structural characters too, since they appear as data rather than URL syntax.

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