URL Encoder / Decoder

A URL encoder converts characters that are not safe to use directly in a URL into percent-encoded sequences. A URL decoder reverses the process, turning percent-encoded text back into the original characters. This page does both, in either direction, for either a single URL component or a full URL.

Under the hood the tool uses the four standard JavaScript functions:

• encodeURIComponent — for encoding a single URL component such as a query parameter value.
• encodeURI — for encoding a full URL while preserving reserved characters like : / ? # & = that have a structural meaning.
• decodeURIComponent — for decoding a single URL component back into its original characters.
• decodeURI — for decoding a full URL without touching reserved characters.

All conversions are UTF-8 aware, so accented letters, emoji, and characters from non-Latin scripts round-trip correctly. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and there are no API calls.

A few practical examples of what URL encoding looks like in practice:

• A space becomes %20, so hello world is encoded as hello%20world.
• A forward slash inside a query value becomes %2F, so a/b becomes a%2Fb when used as a parameter.
• A question mark in a value becomes %3F, so what? becomes what%3F.
• An ampersand in a value becomes %26, which avoids breaking the surrounding query string.
• A hash in a value becomes %23, so c# becomes c%23.
• Non-ASCII characters use multi-byte UTF-8 sequences. For example café becomes caf%C3%A9 (the é is two UTF-8 bytes).
• Emoji also use multi-byte UTF-8. 😀 becomes %F0%9F%98%80.

Switch the tool to Decode and paste any of these encoded strings to see the original text restored exactly.

Choosing the right mode matters because the two encoders treat reserved characters differently.

Use Component mode (encodeURIComponent / decodeURIComponent) when you are encoding a single value that will be inserted into a URL — for example a query parameter value, a path segment, or a fragment value. Component mode percent-encodes reserved characters (: / ? # [ ] @ ! $ & ' ( ) * + , ; =) so they cannot accidentally change the structure of the surrounding URL.

Use Full URL mode (encodeURI / decodeURI) when you have a complete URL such as https://example.com/path?query=value#fragment and you only want to escape characters that are otherwise unsafe (for example spaces or non-ASCII characters). Full URL mode preserves reserved characters because they form the URL's structure.

A common mistake is using encodeURI on a value that is supposed to be a query parameter. The reserved characters survive untouched, which can corrupt the surrounding URL. When in doubt, encode each query value with encodeURIComponent and assemble the URL afterwards.

Percent encoding (also called URL encoding) is a way to represent characters in a URL that are either reserved (have a structural meaning) or not allowed in URLs at all. Each unsafe byte is written as a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits — for example %20 for a space, %2F for a slash, or %3F for a question mark.

The encoding works on bytes, not on characters directly. Modern URLs use UTF-8 to convert characters to bytes first, which is why a single accented letter can become two percent-encoded bytes and an emoji can become four. This tool always uses UTF-8 so encoded strings are interoperable with the rest of the web.

Percent encoding is defined by RFC 3986. The native JavaScript functions used here implement that specification, so a value encoded with encodeURIComponent in any modern browser is decoded the same way by decodeURIComponent everywhere else.

This URL encoder decoder is useful any time you need to safely move text into or out of a URL. Common scenarios include:

• Encoding text for a query string before pasting it into an API request, log line, or browser bar.
• Decoding URL parameters from a request log or analytics export so you can read the original values.
• Inspecting a long encoded URL by decoding it and checking what is actually being passed.
• Escaping special characters in a URL before sharing it in chat, documentation, or a JSON payload.
• Teaching or learning how percent encoding and UTF-8 byte sequences map to characters.

Because the tool runs entirely in your browser, it is also a good fit for sensitive URLs (internal links, tokens, signed URLs) you would rather not paste into a remote service.

URL encoding and URL cleaning are two different operations that are often confused.

URL encoding (this tool) transforms characters into a URL-safe form using percent encoding, and the reverse operation turns percent-encoded text back into the original characters. The structure of the URL is preserved; nothing is added or removed.

URL cleaning (a separate kind of tool) strips tracking parameters such as utm_source, utm_medium, fbclid, gclid, and similar query keys from a URL so the resulting link no longer contains tracking metadata. URL cleaning changes the parameters in the URL — encoding does not.

If you want to remove tracking parameters, you need a dedicated URL cleaner. If you want to encode or decode text into and out of percent-encoded form, this is the right tool.