URL Encoder/Decoder

Paste a URL, query string or any piece of text below to percent-encode special characters for safe use in a URL, or decode an already-encoded string back to readable text.

How to Use the URL Encoder/Decoder

Type or paste a URL, query parameter, or plain text into the input box.
Click "Encode" to percent-encode reserved and special characters (spaces become %20, & becomes %26, and so on).
Click "Decode" to reverse a percent-encoded string back into readable text.
Click "Copy" to copy the result to your clipboard.

Why Use This Tool?

Is my URL or data uploaded anywhere?

No. Encoding uses JavaScript's built-in encodeURIComponent and decoding uses decodeURIComponent, both running locally in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server — useful since URLs often contain session tokens, tracking parameters, or internal query values you may not want passed through a third party.

Why do URLs need to be encoded at all?

URLs can only safely contain a limited set of ASCII characters. Spaces, ampersands, question marks, non-Latin characters and other "reserved" or "unsafe" characters must be percent-encoded (e.g. a space becomes %20) so browsers and servers interpret the URL correctly instead of breaking it into the wrong parameters.

What happens if I decode invalid encoded text?

If the input contains a malformed percent-sequence (like a stray % not followed by two valid hex digits), the tool catches the error and shows a friendly message instead of crashing, so you can fix the input and try again.

Who uses a URL encoder/decoder?

Developers building query strings for API requests, marketers constructing UTM-tagged campaign links, and anyone debugging a broken link containing special characters or non-English text all need quick, accurate URL encoding and decoding.