URL Encode / Decode

Overview of the URL Encode / Decode Tool

URLs may only contain a limited set of characters. Spaces, symbols and non-English letters must be percent-encoded — written as % followed by the byte's hexadecimal value in UTF-8. This tool encodes and decodes as you type, with three modes: encode a single value or query parameter, encode a whole URL while keeping its structure, and decode.

Developers, marketers and SEO professionals use it to build query strings, debug tracking links, read encoded URLs in analytics and handle Hindi or other non-Latin text in addresses. For binary-safe text encoding see the Base64 Encode / Decode.

How URL Encoding Works

The browser's built-in functions do the work, so results match what browsers and JavaScript produce.

1. The text is converted to UTF-8 bytes.
2. Characters that are not allowed are replaced by % plus the byte value in hex (é becomes %C3%A9; Hindi letters use three bytes each).
3. Component mode (encodeURIComponent) also encodes reserved characters such as / ? & = # so a value cannot break a URL.
4. Whole-URL mode (encodeURI) keeps those reserved characters so the URL stays valid.
5. Decoding turns each %XX back into its byte and reads the UTF-8; the “+ as space” option handles form-encoded data.

When to Use Which Mode

Use component mode for anything you put inside a URL — a search term, a redirect address or a tracking value. Use whole-URL mode to clean up a full address that contains spaces or non-English characters. Never encode an already-encoded string twice, or %20 becomes %2520.