URL Encoder/Decoder

What it does

This tool percent-encodes text so it can travel safely inside a URL, and turns percent-encoded text back into readable characters. Encoding uses JavaScript's encodeURIComponent, which converts everything except letters, digits and the characters - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ). Spaces become %20, and accented letters and other non-ASCII characters become their UTF-8 bytes, so é turns into %C3%A9. Decoding uses decodeURIComponent. Both run in your browser, and the text you enter is not sent anywhere.

How to use it

1. Paste your text or URL into the Input box.
2. Click Encode to percent-encode it, or Decode to turn %XX sequences back into characters. Both buttons read from Input.
3. The result appears in the read-only Output box.
4. Click Copy to put the Output text on your clipboard.

When to encode, and when not to

Because Encode escapes reserved characters too, a full address such as https://example.com/?a=1 comes out as https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2F%3Fa%3D1. That is exactly what you want when a URL is itself the value of a parameter, for example a return address or a link tucked inside a tracking URL. It is not what you want for an address you plan to open or publish, since it will no longer work as a link. In that case, encode only the individual parameter values.

Decode is handy for reading URLs copied from server logs, analytics exports or Search Console. Two quirks: a plus sign stays a plus sign rather than becoming a space, and a stray % or broken sequence triggers an "Error decoding URL" alert. Text that was encoded twice, where %20 shows up as %2520, needs two passes: decode, paste the output back into Input, and decode again.

Related guide: URL Parameters