How URL Encoder / Decoder Works
Encoding replaces characters that aren't safe inside a URL — spaces, &, ?, non-ASCII letters and more — with a % followed by their hex code. Decoding reverses the process, turning percent-encoded sequences back into the original characters.
How to Use This Tool
- Choose Encode or Decode.
- Paste your text or URL into the input box.
- Select Convert.
- Copy the result from the output box.
Example
Encoding https://example.com/search?q=hello world produces https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dhello%20world. Decoding hello%20world%21 produces hello world!.
Helpful Tips
- Use Encode when building a query string parameter by hand, so special characters don't break the URL.
- If Decode shows an error, the input likely contains a stray
%that isn't part of a valid escape sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between this and Base64 encoding?
URL encoding (percent-encoding) makes text safe to embed inside a URL. Base64 encoding is a general-purpose way to represent binary or text data as ASCII — they solve different problems.
Does this encode an entire URL or just a part of it?
It encodes whatever you paste, character by character. If you're building a query parameter, encode just that value rather than the full URL, so characters like
: and / in the domain stay intact.Is my text sent anywhere?
No, encoding and decoding both happen locally in your browser.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your input is not uploaded to any server.