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

Our free URL encode decode tool converts special characters in URLs to their percent-encoded equivalents and back. Handles both full URL encoding (preserves URL structure) and component encoding (strictly encodes all special characters for query parameter values).

Key Features

Full URL Mode: Encodes only unsafe characters while preserving :, /, ?, &, = structure.
Component Mode: Strictly encodes every special character for safe use in query parameter values.
Unicode & Emoji Support: Correctly handles UTF-8 multi-byte characters and emojis.
Instant Decode: Paste any percent-encoded string to decode it back to readable text.

Who Is This For?

Developers building and debugging API requests, web analytics engineers decoding query strings, marketers inspecting redirect URLs, and anyone who needs to understand or construct properly encoded URLs.

Privacy & Security

Runs 100% in your browser — no signup, no uploads, no data stored.

URL Encode & Decode