🔗 Developer Tools

URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode special characters in URLs or decode percent-encoded strings back to readable text.

Input

Output

URL Encoding Explained

URLs can only contain certain ASCII characters. Special characters like spaces, &, =, and non-ASCII characters must be percent-encoded (e.g. space becomes %20). This tool uses encodeURIComponent for encoding and decodeURIComponent for decoding.

How to Use the URL Encoder Decoder

Enter your URL or text

Paste the URL or text string you want to encode or decode into the input box.

Encode or decode

Click Encode URL to percent-encode special characters, or Decode URL to convert them back to readable text.

Copy the result

The converted URL or text appears in the output box. Click Copy to grab it.

Common Use Cases

✓Encode URLs with spaces and special characters
✓Decode percent-encoded URLs from browser address bars
✓Prepare query string parameters for API calls
✓Fix URLs with characters that break links
✓Decode URLs from email marketing campaign links

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters get encoded in a URL?+

Spaces, brackets, quotes, and non-ASCII characters are encoded. Safe characters like letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores are left as-is.

What does %20 mean in a URL?+

%20 is the URL encoded form of a space character. Each % followed by two hex digits represents one encoded character.

Should I encode the whole URL or just parts?+

Encode individual query parameter values only, not the entire URL. Encoding slashes and colons would break the URL structure.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?+

encodeURI encodes a full URL leaving structure intact. encodeURIComponent encodes everything including slashes and is used for individual parameter values.