URL Encoder / Decoder
Percent-encode or decode URLs and query strings online, with full UTF-8 support and a URL breakdown.
URL breakdown
Query parameters (decoded)
| Parameter | Value |
|---|
100% private: everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
How to Encode or Decode a URL
No sign-up, no installation — it works right here in your browser.
- Step 1:Choose Encode or Decode, then type or paste your URL, query string or text (or click Load sample).
- Step 2:For encoding, pick component, full-URL or form mode; for decoding, choose whether + means a space. The result updates as you type.
- Step 3:Copy the output, or click Swap to reverse the operation. For URLs, review the breakdown and decoded query parameters.
URL Encoder FAQ
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI encodes a complete URL and leaves structural characters such as : / ? # & = untouched. encodeURIComponent also encodes those characters, which is what you need for a single query parameter value or path segment.
Why is a space sometimes %20 and sometimes +?
In URL paths and modern percent-encoding a space is %20. HTML form submissions (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) use + instead. Use form mode when encoding and the Treat + as a space option when decoding form data.
Which characters need to be URL encoded?
Anything outside the unreserved set A–Z, a–z, 0–9, hyphen, underscore, period and tilde should be encoded inside a value — including spaces, non-ASCII letters, emoji and reserved characters like & = ? # / + and %.
What does Malformed percent-encoding mean?
A % sign must be followed by two hexadecimal digits, and the bytes must form valid UTF-8. A stray % (for example 50% off) or a truncated sequence cannot be decoded; the tool shows exactly where the problem is.
Is URL encoding the same as encryption?
No. Percent-encoding only makes text safe to transport in a URL; anyone can decode it. Never rely on it to hide passwords or tokens.
What Is URL Encoding?
URLs may only contain a limited set of ASCII characters. Everything else — spaces, accented letters, emoji, and reserved characters such as &, =, ?, # and / when they appear inside a value — must be percent-encoded: each byte of the character's UTF-8 representation is written as a % sign followed by two hexadecimal digits, so a space becomes %20 and é becomes %C3%A9. Correct URL encoding is essential when you build query strings, pass redirect URLs as parameters, sign API requests or debug tracking links, because a single unencoded & or # can silently break the whole request.
This free URL encoder and decoder offers three encoding modes: component mode (like encodeURIComponent) for individual parameter values, full-URL mode (like encodeURI) that keeps the URL structure intact, and form mode that encodes spaces as + as HTML forms do. When decoding, it can treat + as a space and pinpoints the position of any malformed percent sequence. If the input is a URL, you also get a breakdown of its protocol, host, port, path and fragment plus a table of decoded query parameters. Everything is processed in your browser, so private links and tokens stay on your device.