URL Encoder and Decoder

Guide & FAQ

Runs in your browser tab; the text you type is not sent anywhere by this tool.

Guide: URL Encoder and Decoder

Encode or decode

Type or paste text, choose Encode or Decode, then pick a mode. The result updates as you type and can be copied or moved back into the input to chain steps.

Choosing a mode

  • Component: for one value, such as the text of a search query or a redirect URL placed inside another URL.
  • Full URL: for a complete address that only needs unsafe characters like spaces or accents fixed.
  • Form data: like Component, but spaces become + as in HTML form submissions.

URL breakdown

When the text is a full URL, the tool splits it into protocol, host, path, query and fragment and lists every query parameter with its decoded value. This makes long tracking links and API calls much easier to read.

Characters that are never changed

Letters, digits and the characters - _ . ~ are always safe. Component mode also keeps ! * ' ( ) as the browser function does. Everything else is converted to UTF-8 bytes and written as %XX.

FAQ

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding, also called percent-encoding, replaces characters that are not allowed or have a special meaning in a URL with a percent sign and two hex digits. For example a space becomes %20 and an e with an acute accent becomes %C3%A9.

What is the difference between component and full URL mode?

Component mode (encodeURIComponent) escapes everything including / ? & = and #, which is what you want for a single value such as a query parameter. Full URL mode (encodeURI) leaves those separators alone so a whole address stays usable.

When is a space encoded as + instead of %20?

In HTML form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) spaces are written as +. In normal URL paths and in most APIs the correct form is %20. Choose Form data mode if you need the + form.

Why does decoding fail with an error?

The text contains a % that is not followed by two hex digits, or the bytes do not form valid UTF-8. Fix or remove the broken sequence and try again.

Is my text sent to a server?

No. Encoding and decoding are done in your browser tab.