URL Encoder / Decoder: Free Online URL Encoder and Decoder — How-To Guide

Try it free: URL Encoder / Decoder

URLs have reserved characters with special meanings: question marks, ampersands, slashes, hashes, and spaces. Percent encoding converts unsafe characters into safe byte sequences like %20, so text can travel inside links, query parameters, redirects, callbacks, and API requests without being misread by browsers or servers. The URL Encoder / Decoder does that conversion instantly, in both directions, for free.

What the Tool Does

The URL Encoder / Decoder converts text into its percent-encoded form and back again. It supports two encoding modes. Component mode uses encodeURIComponent, which is best for query parameter values, path segments, and individual pieces of a URL. Full URL mode uses encodeURI, which preserves the characters that already structure a complete URL, such as :, /, and ?.

Decoding is just as useful. Paste an encoded string and the tool restores the original text, handling UTF-8 percent sequences so Unicode characters come back correctly. Invalid escape sequences are caught and reported clearly instead of breaking the page, which makes it handy when debugging OAuth redirects, analytics links, webhook payloads, signed URLs, and form submissions.

How to Use It

1. Open the tool. Go to the URL Encoder / Decoder page. There is nothing to install and no sign-up.
2. Paste your text. Put the URL, query string, or piece of text you want to convert into the input box. It can be a full link, a single parameter value, or a chunk of text with spaces and special characters.
3. Choose the mode. Pick component mode when you are encoding one value — for example, a search term or a redirect URL that will sit inside another URL's query string. Pick full URL mode when you already have a complete URL and only want its unsafe characters encoded while the structure stays intact.
4. Encode or decode. Click Encode to turn your text into percent-encoded output, or Decode to turn an encoded string back into readable text.
5. Copy the result. Copy the output from the result box and paste it into your link, code, or request. If you are building a query string, encode each value separately before joining them with &.

Practical Tips

• Encode values, not whole URLs, when building query strings. If you encode an entire URL in component mode, the ?, &, and = characters that hold the query together get encoded too, and the link stops working. Encode each value on its own, then assemble the query.
• Watch out for spaces. Spaces are not valid raw URL characters. Percent encoding represents a space as %20. Some form encoders use + instead, but + means something different in a URL path, so %20 is the safer choice outside of form data.
• Decode before you debug. When a redirect, callback, or signed URL misbehaves, paste it into the decoder first. Seeing the decoded version usually reveals the problem immediately — a double-encoded value, a missing parameter, or a character that was encoded when it should not have been.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I encode a full URL or a component?

Use component mode for parameter values and individual pieces of a URL. Use full URL mode only when the whole URL is already assembled and you want to keep its structure — the scheme, slashes, and query markers — untouched.

Why are spaces encoded as %20?

Spaces are not valid raw URL characters, so percent encoding replaces each space with the byte sequence %20. Some form encoders use + for spaces, but that is a form-encoding convention, not general URL encoding.

Can this decode Unicode?

Yes. The tool uses the browser's built-in URL functions, which decode UTF-8 percent sequences back into the original Unicode characters — accented letters, emoji, and non-Latin scripts included.

What happens if I paste an invalid encoded string?

The tool catches invalid escape sequences and reports them clearly instead of failing silently or breaking the page, so you can fix the bad sequence and try again.

Privacy Note

The URL Encoder / Decoder runs 100% in your browser. Your text never leaves your device — no uploads, no servers, no logs. That matters when the text you are encoding contains private tokens, callback URLs, or signed links: you can encode and decode them without exposing them to anyone.

Try it free: URL Encoder / Decoder