URL Encode / Decode

Free URL Encoder / Decoder

This free online URL encoder and decoder converts text and links into safe, percent-encoded form — and turns encoded strings back into readable text. It handles spaces, special characters, query parameters and non-English letters correctly, with a one-click toggle between encoding and decoding. It’s free, instant and runs entirely in your browser, so your data never leaves your device.

How to use the URL encoder / decoder

1. Pick a mode: Encode to make text URL-safe, or Decode to read an encoded string.
2. Type or paste your text or URL into the box on the left (or click Load sample).
3. When encoding, choose Component to encode every special character, or Full URL to keep structural characters like : / ? & =.
4. The result appears instantly on the right — click Copy to grab it.
5. Use Swap to send the result back to the input and reverse the operation.

What is URL encoding / percent-encoding?

A URL can only safely contain a limited set of characters. Anything outside that set — a space, an accented letter, an emoji, or a symbol with special meaning — must be percent-encoded: replaced by a % followed by the two-digit hexadecimal code of each byte. For example a space becomes %20, an ampersand becomes %26, and a slash becomes %2F. This is also called URL encoding or URI encoding, and it is what keeps links from breaking when they travel through browsers and servers.

Characters fall into two groups. Unreserved characters — letters, digits and a few symbols like - _ . ~ — are always safe and are never changed. Reserved characters such as : / ? # & = have a structural meaning in a URL, so whether you encode them depends on the job. Use Component encoding for a single value such as a search term or a query-string parameter, because there you want every reserved character escaped. Use Full URL encoding when you have a complete address and want to keep its structure intact while still escaping spaces and unsafe characters.

Frequently asked questions