URL Decoder
Paste a percent-encoded URL or query string and decode it back to readable text. Handles %20, %3A, and all other percent-encoded characters.
encodeURI
Encodes a full URL, preserving :/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;=
decodeURIComponent
Decodes any percent-encoded string back to its original form.
encodeURIComponent
Encodes everything including / — best for query parameter values.
Why use a URL Encoder & Decoder?
URLs can only contain a limited set of ASCII characters. Special characters like spaces, ampersands, equals signs, and non-ASCII letters must be percent-encoded (e.g. space becomes %20) before they can be safely included in a URL. Forgetting to encode query parameters is a common source of broken links and API errors. Use this alongside Base64 encoding and HTML escaping in your developer toolkit.
Three encode modes
encodeURI preserves the URL structure, encodeURIComponent encodes everything including slashes, and decode reverses any percent-encoding.
Swap input/output
One-click swap lets you round-trip encoded and decoded values without copy-pasting between fields.
Real-time conversion
Results update as you type — no need to click a button. Paste a URL and instantly see what each parameter actually contains.
Special characters & their URL-encoded equivalents
These are the most commonly encountered characters that require percent-encoding in URLs and query strings.
| Character | Encoded (component) | Common context |
|---|---|---|
| Space | %20 | All URL components; also encoded as + in form data |
| & | %26 | Query string parameter separator — must be encoded in values |
| = | %3D | Key-value separator in query strings |
| + | %2B | Encode when + should be literal, not a space |
| / | %2F | Path separator — encode in query param values only |
| # | %23 | Fragment identifier — encode when part of a query value |