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URL Encoder/Decoder
URL Encoder/Decoder percent-encodes the characters that break links — spaces, ampersands, question marks, slashes and non-ASCII letters — and decodes encoded strings back into readable text.
How to use URL Encoder/Decoder
- Paste the text or the encoded string into the editor.
- Click Encode to escape it for a URL, or Decode to turn %-escapes back into characters.
- Copy the result into your query string or document.
Where URL Encoder/Decoder is useful
- Safely adding a search phrase as a query parameter.
- Reading an encoded tracking URL to see what it actually contains.
- Fixing a link that breaks because a value contains an ampersand.
- Preparing a filename or key for a URL path.
Formats, algorithms and limits
Encoding follows the component-level rule, so everything except A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and the unreserved marks - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) becomes a percent escape. That is the correct level for a single query value or path segment. Decoding reverses the escapes; a decode that meets a stray percent sign reports an error rather than guessing.
Troubleshooting and honest limits
- Encode values, not whole URLs: encoding the whole string would also escape the separators (:// and ?) that make the URL work.
- A space becomes %20 rather than a plus sign here, which is what modern URLs expect.
- If a decode fails, look for a lone % character that is not followed by two hexadecimal digits.
Frequently asked questions
Should I encode the whole URL or just part of it?
Just the values that go inside it. Encoding the whole URL would turn the scheme separators and query delimiters into escapes and break the link.
Why does a space become %20 and not a plus sign?
The plus-as-space convention belongs to form submissions. In a URL itself, %20 is the correct escape, and this tool produces it.
Can it handle Arabic, Chinese or Hindi text?
Yes. Non-ASCII characters are encoded as their UTF-8 byte sequence, which is how modern browsers and servers expect to receive them.
Does decoding work on a link with a stray percent sign?
That depends on the input. An incomplete escape sequence is invalid and the tool reports it instead of returning a wrong result.
Related tools
Page written and reviewed by the FreeConvertio engineering team on 2026-10-14. URL Encoder/Decoder runs entirely in your browser — no uploads, no account and no daily limits.