Developer ToolsFree

URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode strings for safe use in URLs by converting special characters to percent-encoded format. Decode percent-encoded URLs back to readable text. Handles query parameters, spaces, ampersands, equal signs, and all special characters correctly. Essential for web developers and API work.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is URL encoding and why is it needed?▼
URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) replaces special characters in URLs with a percent sign followed by two hex digits. For example, a space becomes %20. URLs can only contain certain safe ASCII characters, so encoding is required for query parameters, form data, or any user-provided content in a URL.
What characters get encoded?▼
All characters outside the safe set get encoded: spaces, &, =, ?, #, %, +, /, :, @, and most non-ASCII characters are all encoded. Letters, digits, hyphens, underscores, periods, and tildes are left as-is.
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?▼
encodeURI encodes a full URL, leaving structural characters like / and ? intact. encodeURIComponent encodes everything including /, ?, and &, making it suitable for encoding individual query parameter values. This tool uses the encodeURIComponent approach.