URL Encoder / Decoder
Encode special characters in URLs (percent encoding) or decode URL-encoded strings back to plain text. Instant real-time conversion.
Frequently Asked Questions
URL encoding (percent-encoding) replaces special characters with a % sign followed by their hex ASCII code. Spaces become %20, & becomes %26, etc., ensuring URLs transmit correctly.
Use encodeURIComponent for query parameter values (encodes ?, &, =, /). Use encodeURI for a full URL (preserves :, /, ?, &, =). This tool uses encodeURIComponent by default.
Switch to the 'Decode' tab and paste your encoded URL. The tool replaces all %XX sequences with their original characters instantly.
It breaks a complete URL into its components — protocol, host, pathname, query string, and hash — and lists each query parameter as a separate key-value pair.
What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (also known as percent-encoding) replaces special characters in a URL with a percent sign (%) followed by the character's ASCII code in hexadecimal. This ensures URLs are transmitted correctly over the web, since certain characters have special meaning in URLs.
Characters That Need Encoding
- Spaces → %20 (or +)
- & → %26 (in query strings)
- = → %3D
- # → %23
- ? → %3F
- / → %2F (when not a path separator)