URL Encoder and Decoder

Paste a URL, query string, or plain text below to percent-encode or decode it instantly — everything runs locally in your browser. For binary-safe text encoding, use the Base64 encoder instead.

Reference

URL encoding notes

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding, also known as percent-encoding, transforms unsafe characters in a URL into a format that can be safely transmitted over the web.

How does the URL encoding tool work?

This tool uses browser URL encoding and decoding functions to convert text between raw and encoded forms. Encoding replaces reserved or non-ASCII characters with percent-encoded values, while decoding restores them to readable text.

When should you use URL encoding?

  • Encoding query string values before appending them to URLs
  • Decoding percent-encoded links and request parameters
  • Preparing URLs for browser navigation or API calls
  • Testing how servers and clients handle encoded paths and parameters
  • Cleaning up copied URLs and ensuring safe transmission

What are the limitations of URL encoding?

  • Decoding invalid percent-encoded text may fail or produce errors
  • Browser URL encoding does not escape some safe characters like '/', ':', or '?', which may still need special handling in some contexts
  • This tool is intended for client-side encoding/decoding only, not for full URL parsing or validation

URL encoding examples

encode https://example.com/search?q=hello world&lang=pl -> https://example.com/search?q=hello%20world&lang=pl
decode hello%20world%21 -> hello world!
query string name=Jan+Kowalski&city=Warszawa -> name=Jan+Kowalski&city=Warszawa
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