URL encoder and decoder

Why encode URLs?

Only Latin letters, digits and a few special characters are allowed in a URL. Spaces, non-English letters and &, =, ?, # inside a parameter must be written as %XX — that’s percent-encoding. Browsers do it for you, but when you build links by hand, in code or in tracking tags (UTM), you have to encode values yourself.

How to use

Choose “Encode” to make text safe for a URL, or “Decode” to turn a link full of %XX back into readable text.

Examples

• price & size → price%20%26%20size
• caf%C3%A9%20%26%20cr%C3%A8me → café & crème

FAQ

Why is a space sometimes %20 and sometimes +? In form query strings a space is traditionally +; elsewhere in a URL it’s %20. When decoding, + is treated as a space; when encoding, %20 is always used — it works everywhere.

Is / encoded? In “Encode” mode, yes: it encodes a parameter value (encodeURIComponent), so /, ?, & and = become %XX too. To encode a whole link, choose “Encode full URL” (encodeURI): the URL’s own characters stay, while spaces and non-ASCII letters are encoded.

For arbitrary data, use Base64.