URL Encode and Decode
Encodes every character that has a meaning in URLs, including / ? & = and #. Use it for one parameter value.
Make a search term, a redirect address or a file name safe to put in a URL, or decode a long tracking link into something you can read.
- Free
- Runs in your browser
- Two encoding modes
- No sign-up
How It Works
Encode or decode in three steps.
Choose a direction
Encode for text going into a URL, Decode for a URL you want to read.
Pick the mode
Query value for one parameter, Full URL for a whole address.
Copy the result
It updates as you type.
What is URL encoding?
URLs may only contain a limited set of ASCII characters, and some of those, such as ?, & and =, have special jobs. Percent-encoding replaces any other character with % and its byte value in hex: a space becomes %20 and é becomes %C3%A9 (its two UTF-8 bytes). Decoding reverses that. Which characters to encode depends on whether you have one value or a whole URL, which is why there are two modes.
Encode a value once. Encoding an already encoded string turns %20 into %2520, a common cause of broken links.
Query value mode
Like JavaScript's encodeURIComponent: encodes / ? & = # too, so a value such as "a&b" cannot break the query string.
Full URL mode
Like encodeURI: leaves the characters that structure a URL alone and encodes the rest.
Plus for spaces
HTML forms send spaces as +. Tick the option to encode or decode that style.
UTF-8
Non-English characters are encoded as UTF-8 bytes, which every modern browser and server expects.
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Why Use This URL Encoder
The right encoding for the job.
Two modes
Separate handling for a single value and a complete URL, so nothing is over- or under-encoded.
Catches broken codes
Tells you when a % sign is not followed by a valid code instead of failing silently.
Round trip
Switching direction moves the result to the input.
Private
Links with tokens or personal parameters are decoded in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions people ask about the URL encoder and decoder.
Query value when you are building a URL and inserting one value, such as a search term or a redirect address. Full URL when you have a complete address with spaces or accented letters that needs to be made valid.
%20 is the standard percent-encoding. + comes from HTML form submissions (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) and only means a space in the query string. Tick the + option when you work with form data.
The text was encoded twice: % became %25. Decode it twice, or fix the code that encodes it a second time.
No. Percent-encoding keeps readable characters readable and only replaces unsafe ones. Base64 rewrites everything. For Base64, use the Base64 Encode & Decode tool.
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