Encoders

URL Encoder/Decoder

Encode and decode URLs and URL components online free

Input

About

URL encoder and decoder supporting component-level encoding (encodeURIComponent) and full-URL encoding (encodeURI). Offers 3 character set options: all characters, unreserved only, or custom selection. Includes auto-detection of whether the input is encoded or plain, multiple output displays (encoded, decoded, component-encoded), URL validation, a special character reference table, and a history of the last 50 URL conversions.

Manually encoding or decoding URLs is error-prone, especially when dealing with special characters, non-ASCII text, or nested encoding. This tool provides all encoding variants alongside validation and reference material so developers can see exactly how their URL is transformed.

Who should use this tool?

Web developers, API testers, QA engineers, and anyone who constructs or debug URLs containing query strings, paths, or user-submitted values.

Common use cases

Encode a search query containing spaces and special characters for a URL query parameter
Decode a percent-encoded URL from a server log to understand the original request
Validate a URL structure to ensure it is well-formed before making an HTTP request
Reference the special character encoding table (e.g., %20 for space, %26 for &) for manual encoding
Compare component encoding vs. full URL encoding to understand when to use each
Review recent encoding/decoding history to re-use a previous conversion

How to Use

Paste a URL or string into the input area — the tool auto-detects if it is encoded or plain text.

Select the encoding mode: Encode (plain → encoded) or Decode (encoded → plain).

Choose the character set: All Characters, Unreserved Only (letters, digits, -._~), or Custom (select specific chars to encode).

Choose encoded output type: Full URL (encodeURI) or Component Only (encodeURIComponent).

Review the results panel showing the encoded/decoded output, the original input, and the component-encoded version.

Use the Special Characters reference table to look up the percent-encoding for any ASCII or Unicode character.

Examples

Input: "hello world & goodbye" with Encode, Component Only → Output: "hello%20world%20%26%20goodbye"

Input: "https://example.com/search?q=cat%20food" with Decode, auto-detect → Output: "https://example.com/search?q=cat food"

Best Practices

Use Component encoding (encodeURIComponent) for query parameter values, never Full URL encoding
Use Full URL encoding (encodeURI) for the entire URL — it preserves scheme, host, and path structure
Always validate the URL after encoding to ensure the result is still well-formed
Review the special character table when debugging unexpected URL behavior
Check the history panel if you need to re-encode the same value but forgot the result

Common Mistakes

Using Full URL encoding on a query parameter value — spaces in the value should be %20, not +
Encoding an already-encoded URL (double encoding) — "%20" becomes "%2520"
Decoding a full URL with component decoding — a & in the query string may be interpreted incorrectly
Not encoding plus signs in values — a literal + should be %2B, not left as +
Assuming Unicode characters are the same across all browsers — encoding ensures consistent interpretation

FAQ

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent? encodeURI encodes the full URL preserving structural characters (:/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;=). encodeURIComponent encodes all characters including structural ones, making it safe for query parameter values.

Can I decode a URL that has been encoded multiple times? Yes

but you need to decode it multiple times until no %xx sequences remain.

What is the %20 vs + difference? %20 is the percent-encoded space; + is the application/x-www-form-urlencoded space (used in form submission, not URL encoding).

Does the tool handle Unicode characters? Yes

Unicode characters are encoded as UTF-8 byte sequences (e.g., ñ → %C3%B1).

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Learning Resources

Dive deeper with our comprehensive guides and tutorials.

URL Encoder/Decoder - Beginner's Guide

5 min read

URL Encoder/Decoder Advanced Techniques

8 min read

About

Who should use this tool?

Web developers, API testers, QA engineers, and anyone who constructs or debug URLs containing query strings, paths, or user-submitted values.

Common use cases

Encode a search query containing spaces and special characters for a URL query parameter
Decode a percent-encoded URL from a server log to understand the original request
Validate a URL structure to ensure it is well-formed before making an HTTP request
Reference the special character encoding table (e.g., %20 for space, %26 for &) for manual encoding
Compare component encoding vs. full URL encoding to understand when to use each
Review recent encoding/decoding history to re-use a previous conversion

How to Use

Paste a URL or string into the input area — the tool auto-detects if it is encoded or plain text.

Select the encoding mode: Encode (plain → encoded) or Decode (encoded → plain).

Choose the character set: All Characters, Unreserved Only (letters, digits, -._~), or Custom (select specific chars to encode).

Choose encoded output type: Full URL (encodeURI) or Component Only (encodeURIComponent).

Review the results panel showing the encoded/decoded output, the original input, and the component-encoded version.

Use the Special Characters reference table to look up the percent-encoding for any ASCII or Unicode character.

Best Practices

Use Component encoding (encodeURIComponent) for query parameter values, never Full URL encoding

Use Full URL encoding (encodeURI) for the entire URL — it preserves scheme, host, and path structure

Always validate the URL after encoding to ensure the result is still well-formed

Review the special character table when debugging unexpected URL behavior

Check the history panel if you need to re-encode the same value but forgot the result

Common Mistakes

Using Full URL encoding on a query parameter value — spaces in the value should be %20, not +

Encoding an already-encoded URL (double encoding) — "%20" becomes "%2520"

Decoding a full URL with component decoding — a & in the query string may be interpreted incorrectly

Not encoding plus signs in values — a literal + should be %2B, not left as +

Assuming Unicode characters are the same across all browsers — encoding ensures consistent interpretation

FAQ

Can I decode a URL that has been encoded multiple times? Yes

but you need to decode it multiple times until no %xx sequences remain.

What is the %20 vs + difference? %20 is the percent-encoded space; + is the application/x-www-form-urlencoded space (used in form submission, not URL encoding).

Does the tool handle Unicode characters? Yes

Unicode characters are encoded as UTF-8 byte sequences (e.g., ñ → %C3%B1).

URL Encoder/Decoder

About

Who should use this tool?

Common use cases

How to Use

Examples

Best Practices

Common Mistakes

FAQ

Related Tools

Same Category — Encoders

Base64 Encoder/Decoder

Base64 Image Converter

String Escape/Unescape

HTML Entity Encoder/Decoder

Popular Tools

JSON Formatter

JWT Decoder

SQL Formatter

Learning Resources

Share

URL Encoder/Decoder

About

Who should use this tool?

Common use cases

How to Use

Examples

Best Practices

Common Mistakes

FAQ

Related Tools

Same Category — Encoders

Base64 Encoder/Decoder

Base64 Image Converter

String Escape/Unescape

HTML Entity Encoder/Decoder

Popular Tools

JSON Formatter

JWT Decoder

SQL Formatter

Learning Resources

Share