Encode or decode URL strings and special characters instantly.
A URL encoder/decoder is a free developer tool that converts special characters in URLs to percent-encoded format (URL encoding) or decodes percent-encoded strings back to readable text. URL encoding is required for passing special characters, spaces and non-ASCII text safely in web addresses and API requests.
Encode query string parameters that contain special characters for GET requests and API calls.
Encode form data and URL parameters before sending them in HTTP requests.
Decode percent-encoded URLs in analytics reports and server logs to read the actual search terms.
Decode obfuscated URLs to inspect their actual destination for security analysis.
URL encoding (percent encoding) replaces special characters with a % followed by two hexadecimal digits. Space becomes %20, & becomes %26, = becomes %3D.
Encode URLs when they contain spaces or special characters that have meaning in URLs (?, &, =, #, %). Always encode query string values before appending to a URL.
The 'unreserved characters' that do not need encoding are: A–Z, a–z, 0–9, hyphen (-), underscore (_), period (.) and tilde (~). All other characters should be encoded.
encodeURI encodes a full URL but leaves /, ?, &, = and # intact. encodeURIComponent encodes everything including these characters — use it for individual query parameter values.