URL Encode / Decode Online Free

How to URL encode and decode

Paste your text or URL and pick a direction. Encoding makes text safe to place inside a web address; decoding turns an encoded string back into something readable.

Why URLs need encoding at all

A URL may only contain a restricted set of characters, and several of them are reserved for structural meaning: ? starts the query string, & separates parameters, = joins a name to its value, # marks a fragment. If a value contains one of those characters, it has to be escaped or the address falls apart.

Encoding replaces each unsafe character with a percent sign and its hexadecimal byte value. A space becomes %20, an ampersand becomes %26, a question mark becomes %3F. Non-English characters are encoded as their UTF-8 bytes, which is why a single accented letter often turns into two percent codes.

Where it bites in practice

• Search links break when the query contains "&". "R&D" has to be sent as R%26D.
• Campaign tracking parameters silently split into the wrong fields when a value contains an unescaped separator.
• API requests reject or misread parameters holding email addresses, timestamps or JSON.
• File names with spaces produce dead links unless the spaces are encoded.

Frequently asked questions

Should a space be %20 or a plus sign?

Use %20 in the path, because it is always correct. The plus form is a legacy convention that applies only within query strings of form submissions.

Can I encode a whole URL safely?

Encode the individual values, not the entire address, or you will escape the structural characters your URL depends on.

Why do accented letters become several codes?

Because UTF-8 stores them as multiple bytes, and each byte is encoded separately.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Encoding happens in your browser.