URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode special characters for safe URL use, or decode percent-encoded strings back to plain text.

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) converts characters that are not allowed in a URL into a %XX hex format. For example, a space becomes %20 and an ampersand becomes %26.

When do you need to encode a URL?

Passing special characters in query string parameters (e.g. ?q=hello%20world)
Encoding form data sent via HTTP POST
Constructing API request URLs programmatically
Embedding URLs inside other URLs

Encode vs Decode

Encode converts plain text to a URL-safe string. Decode converts a percent-encoded string back to plain text. Click Swap to reverse the direction with the current output as the new input.

Characters that are encoded

All characters except letters (A–Z, a–z), digits (0–9), and - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) are percent-encoded. This follows the encodeURIComponent() standard used in JavaScript.