URL Encoder & Decoder

About the URL Encoder & Decoder

Percent-encoding replaces characters that are not safe inside a URL with a % followed by two hex digits of their UTF-8 bytes. Use Encode URL to escape text for a query parameter or path, and Decode URL to turn %20-style sequences back into readable text.

Strict Component mode escapes everything except letters, digits and - _ . ~ (like encodeURIComponent). Turn it off to encode a whole URL and keep its structure characters. Form mode writes spaces as + the way HTML forms do.

How to use it

1. Choose Encode URL or Decode URL.
2. Choose Strict Component for a single value, or turn it off to encode a whole URL; tick Form URL-Encoded to use + for spaces.
3. Paste the text and press Copy Output.

Worked example

Encode URL with Strict Component on, so = and & are escaped as well.

name=Ada Lovelace&city=São Paulo

name%3DAda%20Lovelace%26city%3DS%C3%A3o%20Paulo

Common mistakes and gotchas

• Encode a value, not a whole URL, in Strict Component mode: it will also escape the : / ? and & that make the URL work.
• A + means a space only in form-encoded data. In plain percent-decoding a + is a literal plus, so the decode result depends on the form setting.
• Encoding twice turns %20 into %2520. If a decoded value still contains percent signs, it was probably encoded more than once.
• A stray % that is not followed by two hex digits is malformed and the decoder reports an error instead of guessing.

Frequently asked questions