URL encoder and decoder
Make text safe to put in a link, turn %-encoded text back into words, and see what a URL is made of.
Sealed on this device
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Sealed
Result
The result will appear here as you type.
This can’t be decoded
Parts of this URL
Query parameters
| Name | Value (decoded) |
|---|
How it works
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Choose the direction
Encode makes text safe for a URL. Decode turns sequences like %C3%A9 back into readable characters.
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Pick what you’re encoding
A single parameter value needs every special character encoded. A whole URL keeps its slashes, question mark and ampersands.
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Copy or inspect
Copy the result, or read the table that splits a URL into protocol, host, path, parameters and fragment.
Frequently asked questions
Is the text I paste sent anywhere?
No. Encoding, decoding and URL analysis all run in your browser, so links containing tokens or personal data stay on your device.
What’s the difference between encoding a part and a whole URL?
A part, such as a search term placed after ?q=, must have characters like &, = and / encoded so they aren’t read as URL structure. A whole URL keeps those characters, because they are its structure, and only encodes spaces and characters outside ASCII.
Should spaces become %20 or +?
Both are common. %20 works everywhere in a URL. + means a space only in query strings sent by HTML forms. When in doubt, use %20.
Why do accented letters become several % codes?
URLs use UTF-8, where a character like é takes two bytes and an emoji takes four. Each byte is written as % followed by two hexadecimal digits, so é becomes %C3%A9.
Why does decoding fail on some text?
Decoding fails when a % isn’t followed by two hexadecimal digits, or when the bytes aren’t valid UTF-8, which often happens with text encoded by old systems in Latin-1. The error shows exactly where the problem is.