URL Encoder Decoder – Encode & Decode URLs Online Free URL encoder decoder Tool

🔐 URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode and decode URLs with percent encoding instantly

Enter URL or text to encode:

0 characters

Encoded Result: 0 characters

💡 Encoding Examples:

Input: hello world → Output: hello%20world

Input: [email protected] → Output: user%40email.com

Input: price=$99.99 → Output: price%3D%2499.99

Enter encoded URL or text to decode:

0 characters

Decoded Result: 0 characters

💡 Decoding Examples:

Input: hello%20world → Output: hello world

Input: user%40email.com → Output: [email protected]

Input: price%3D%2499.99 → Output: price=$99.99

What is URL Encoding?
How to Use the URL Encoder/Decoder
Why URL Encoding is Necessary
Common Use Cases
URL Encoding Rules and Standards
Frequently Asked Questions

URL Encoder Decoder: Convert URLs with Percent Encoding

URL encoding (also known as percent-encoding) is essential for transmitting special characters in web addresses safely. Our URL encoder decoder tool makes it simple to convert URLs and text between encoded decoded tool formats instantly.

What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding decoding tool is a mechanism for converting special characters in URLs into a format that can be transmitted over the internet. Since URLs can only contain a limited set of characters from the standard ASCII character set, any character outside this set—or reserved characters used within URLs—must be encoded.

The encoding process replaces unsafe characters with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the character’s ASCII code. For example:

Space character becomes %20
@ symbol becomes %40
/ forward slash becomes %2F
? question mark becomes %3F

This standardized encoding ensures URLs work correctly across all web browsers, servers, and applications regardless of the platform or operating system.

How to Use the URL Encoder/Decoder

Our URL Encoder Decoder provides two simple modes for URL encoding and decoding:

Encoding URLs (Converting to Percent-Encoded Format)

Select Encode Tab: Click the “Encode URL” tab if not already selected
Enter Input: Type or paste the URL or text you want to encode in the input textarea
Click Encode: Press the “🔒 Encode” button to convert your input
View Result: The encoded output appears below, showing all special characters converted to percent-encoding
Copy or Download: Use the action buttons to copy the result to your clipboard or download it as a text file

Decoding URLs (Converting from Percent-Encoded Format)

Select Decode Tab: Click the “Decode URL” tab to switch modes
Enter Encoded Input: Paste the percent-encoded URL or text you want to decode
Click Decode: Press the “🔓 Decode” button to convert back to readable format
View Result: The decoded output shows the original text with all special characters restored
Copy or Download: Save or share the decoded result using the action buttons

The URL Encoder Decoder processes your input instantly without sending data to any server, ensuring complete privacy for sensitive URLs.

Why URL Encoding is Necessary

URL encoding serves several critical functions in web communication:

Character Safety

URLs can only safely contain letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers (0-9), and a few special characters (- _ . ~). Any other character could cause parsing errors, break links, or be misinterpreted by browsers and servers. Encoding ensures all characters are safely transmitted.

Reserved Character Protection

Certain characters have special meanings in URL Encoder Decoder. For example, ? begins query parameters, & separates parameters, and # indicates fragments. If you need these characters as literal data rather than URL syntax, they must be encoded to prevent confusion.

International Character Support

URLs originally supported only ASCII characters. To include international characters (Chinese, Arabic, emoji, etc.), these must be encoded using UTF-8 percent-encoding, allowing global content to be accessed via URLs.

Data Integrity

Encoding prevents data corruption during transmission. Without encoding, spaces might be lost, special characters could be misinterpreted, and URLs might break when passed through different systems.

Common Use Cases for URL Encoding

API Development and Testing

When working with REST APIs, query parameters often need encoding. For example, searching for “John Doe” requires encoding the space: ?name=John%20Doe. Developers use URL encoding daily to construct valid API requests.

Form Data Submission

HTML forms automatically encode data before submission. Understanding this encoding helps developers debug form issues and manually construct POST requests with proper encoding.

Email Address Validation

Email addresses contain special characters like @ and periods. When passing emails as URL parameters (like in verification links), proper encoding prevents interpretation errors: user%40example.com.

Search Engine URLs

Search queries often contain spaces and special characters. All major search engines use URL encoding for search terms, converting “best coffee makers 2024” to encoded format in the URL bar.

Social Media Sharing

When creating share URLs for social media platforms, any special characters in titles, descriptions, or source URLs must be encoded to prevent broken links.

Database Query Strings

When constructing database queries via URLs (in admin panels or analytics URL Encoder Decoder), special SQL characters must be encoded to prevent SQL injection and ensure query integrity.

URL Encoding Rules and Standards

Characters That Must Be Encoded

The following characters require encoding when used in URLs:

Control characters: ASCII 00-1F and 7F (non-printable)
Non-ASCII characters: Characters above 128 (international characters)
Reserved characters: ! * ' ( ) ; : @ & = + $ , / ? # [ ]
Unsafe characters: space " < > % { } | \ ^ ` [ ]

Encoding Process

To encode a character:

Determine the character’s UTF-8 byte representation
Convert each byte to hexadecimal
Prepend each hex pair with a percent sign (%)

Example: The space character (ASCII 32, hex 20) becomes %20

Component-Specific Encoding

Different URL components have different encoding requirements:

Path segments: Most special characters are encoded except / (separates paths)
Query parameters: Most encoding, but & and = retain special meaning
Fragment identifiers: Similar to query string encoding

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between %20 and + for encoding spaces?

Both %20 and + represent spaces, but they’re used in different contexts. %20 is the standard percent-encoding for spaces used throughout URLs. The + character is a legacy form used specifically in query strings (application/x-www-form-urlencoded format). Modern best practice is to use %20 consistently, though browsers accept both in query strings.

Do I need to encode the entire URL or just parts of it?

Only encode specific components, not the structural elements. Never encode the protocol (https://), domain name, or URL structure characters like :, //, ?, &, and =. Only encode the actual data within path segments, query parameter values, and fragments. For example, in https://example.com/search?q=hello%20world, only “hello world” needed encoding, not the URL structure itself.

What happens if I encode a URL twice?

Double-encoding causes errors. For example, encoding “hello world” produces “hello%20world”. Encoding it again produces “hello%2520world” (the % itself gets encoded to %25). The server will decode once, leaving you with “hello%20world” instead of “hello world”. Always verify you’re not encoding already-encoded URLs—a common bug in web applications.

Are URL encoding and Base64 encoding the same?

No, they serve different purposes. URL encoding (percent-encoding) makes specific characters safe for URLs by replacing them with %XX format. Base64 encoding converts binary data to text using only safe characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /). Base64 is for encoding binary data or ensuring data passes through text-only systems, while URL encoding is specifically for making URLs valid and safe.

Can emoji be used in URLs?

Yes, but they must be URL-encoded. Modern browsers display emoji in the address bar (like 🎉) but internally encode them. For example, the 🎉 emoji becomes %F0%9F%8E%89 in the actual URL. When constructing URLs programmatically with emoji, always encode them. Some systems may not handle emoji correctly even when encoded, so test thoroughly.

Is URL encoding secure or does it provide encryption?

URL encoding is NOT encryption or security. It’s purely for data format compatibility. Encoded URLs are easily decoded by anyone—there’s no key or secret involved. Never rely on URL Encoder Decoder to hide sensitive information. For security, use HTTPS for encryption in transit, and implement proper authentication and authorization. URL encoding simply makes characters safe for transmission, nothing more.

Conclusion

URL encoding is a fundamental web technology that ensures data integrity and compatibility across the internet. Whether you’re a developer building APIs, a marketer creating tracking URLs, or anyone working with web addresses, understanding and using proper URL encoding prevents broken links and ensures smooth data transmission.

Use our free URL encoder decoder tool anytime you need to convert URLs or troubleshoot encoding issues. It’s fast, secure, and works entirely in your browser!