Encode and decode URL parameters, query strings, and special characters
📝InputNo Input
📤OutputNo Output
Encoded/decoded output will appear here...
🔍 Character Analysis
🔗 URL Preview
💡 Sample Data
Try these examples to test the encoder/decoder:
About URL Encoder/Decoder
Our free online URL encoder and decoder helps developers encode and decode URL parameters, query strings, and special characters. Whether you're building web applications, working with APIs, or handling user input, our tool provides comprehensive URL encoding capabilities.
Features
URL Encoding: Encode special characters for safe URL transmission
URL Decoding: Decode URL-encoded strings back to readable text
Query String Encoding: Encode parameters for query strings
Character Analysis: Highlight unsafe and safe characters
URL Preview: Preview encoded URLs as clickable links
Auto Encoding: Real-time encoding as you type
Copy Ready Links: Generate copy-ready URL links
How to Use
Enter text to encode or URL-encoded text to decode
Choose encoding type (URL, Component, or Query String)
Click encode or decode buttons
Review character analysis and URL preview
Copy the result or generate a link
Common Use Cases
✅ Web Development: Encode form data for URLs
✅ API Development: Encode parameters for API calls
✅ Email Links: Create safe email links with parameters
✅ Social Media: Encode URLs for social sharing
✅ Debugging: Decode URL parameters for analysis
About this tool
Free Online URL Encoder and Decoder
Percent-encode any URL or query string value — and decode percent-encoded strings back to readable text. Handles full URLs (preserving structural characters) and individual parameter values (encoding everything that needs encoding). All processing is local; nothing is uploaded.
What is URL Encoding?
URLs can only contain a specific set of ASCII characters. Spaces, special characters, and non-ASCII text must be percent-encoded: a % followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the character's UTF-8 byte value. A space becomes %20; the euro sign becomes %E2%82%AC.
encodeURI vs encodeURIComponent
encodeURI — encodes a complete URL. Preserves structural characters (/ ? & = # : @) that have URL meaning. Use for full URLs containing spaces or non-ASCII characters
encodeURIComponent — encodes a single component (parameter value or path segment). Encodes everything including structural characters. Always use this for individual parameter values
The most common mistake: using encodeURI on a parameter value. If the value contains & or =, they won't be encoded and will break the query string structure.
What is the difference between %20 and + for spaces?
%20 is universal and works everywhere in a URL. + means space only in query strings (application/x-www-form-urlencoded). In path segments, + is a literal plus sign. When in doubt, use %20.
Why does double-encoding produce %25 instead of %20?
The % character itself encodes as %25. Encoding an already-encoded string encodes the % signs — producing %2520 instead of %20. Always encode raw, un-encoded values.
Do I need to encode forward slashes in a path?
Only if the slash is a literal value — not a path separator. A file name containing a slash must be encoded as %2F. A slash acting as a path separator between segments should be left unencoded.