What is URL encoding?

URL encoding replaces unsafe ASCII characters with a % followed by two hexadecimal digits. For example, a space becomes %20, & becomes %26, and = becomes %3D. This ensures URLs are safely transmitted and parsed correctly.

What characters need to be URL encoded?

Reserved characters with special meaning in URLs (? & = # % + / : @ ! $ ' , ; *), spaces, and any non-ASCII character (including Unicode/emojis) must be encoded.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI encodes a full URL, preserving characters like :, /, ?, &, =, #. encodeURIComponent encodes a single URL component (like a query parameter value), encoding ALL special characters including those preserved by encodeURI.

Why is + sometimes used for space in URLs?

In query strings (after ?), application/x-www-form-urlencoded format uses + to represent spaces (legacy from HTML form encoding). In path segments, spaces must be encoded as %20. Our tool handles both conventions.

How do I encode a URL with Chinese or Arabic characters?

Non-ASCII characters are first encoded to UTF-8 bytes, then each byte is percent-encoded. For example, the Chinese character 中 (UTF-8: E4 B8 AD) becomes %E4%B8%AD.

URL Encode & Decode - Free Online URL Encoder Decoder

How to Use URL Encode & Decode

1
Select "Encode" or "Decode" mode.
2
Paste your URL or query string into the input field.
3
Choose "Full URL" mode to preserve URL structure or "Component" for strict encoding.
4
The encoded/decoded result appears instantly.
5
Click "Copy" to copy the result to your clipboard.

About URL Encode & Decode

URL encoding (percent encoding) converts special characters in URLs into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet. Characters like spaces, &, =, ?, #, and non-ASCII characters must be encoded to avoid breaking URL parsing.

Our URL Encoder/Decoder handles both full URL encoding and component encoding. Full URL encoding preserves the URL structure (keeping ://,?, &, =) while encoding only the parts that need encoding. Component encoding is stricter, encoding every special character — use this for individual query parameter values.

This tool is invaluable for developers debugging API requests, building URL parameters programmatically, decoding query strings from web analytics, and understanding redirect URLs in marketing campaigns. It correctly handles UTF-8 characters, emojis, and multi-byte Unicode characters.

URL Encode & Decode