Encode and decode URLs instantly for safe transmission and readability
URL encoding, also known as percent encoding, is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). In URLs, certain characters have special meaning. For example, spaces, special characters, and non-ASCII characters cannot be directly used in URLs. URL encoding converts these characters into a format that's safe for transmission over the internet. URL decoding reverses this process, converting encoded characters back to their original form. Our URL encoder/decoder tool makes this process instant and hassle-free.
URL encoding is essential for several reasons. When building URLs with parameters or data that contain special characters, those characters must be encoded to avoid breaking the URL structure. Spaces, punctuation, and international characters must all be encoded. This is particularly important when creating URLs for APIs, forms, or when sharing URLs that contain user-generated content. Encoding ensures the URL remains valid and can be properly transmitted and interpreted by servers and browsers. Without proper encoding, URLs may malfunction or data may be lost during transmission.
Space is encoded as %20 or +. Forward slash "/" becomes %2F. Question mark "?" becomes %3F. Ampersand "&" becomes %26. Equal sign "=" becomes %3D. These encodings follow the URL encoding standard where special characters are replaced with a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits. Our URL encoder automatically handles all these conversions. You don't need to memorize encoding values; simply paste your URL and let the tool handle the transformation accurately.
Using our tool is straightforward. Paste your URL or text into the input field. Click "Encode URL" to convert special characters to their encoded form, making the URL safe for transmission. Click "Decode URL" to convert encoded URLs back to their readable form. The result appears instantly in the output box. You can copy the result to your clipboard with one click or clear the field to start fresh. The entire process happens locally in your browser, ensuring complete privacy.
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Reserved characters (like : / ? # [ ] @ ! $ & ' ( ) * + , ; = ) and unsafe characters (like space, quotes, < >) require encoding. Additionally, any character outside the standard ASCII printable range must be encoded. Our encoder handles all of these automatically.
Yes! Our encoder safely handles URLs with query parameters. However, if you want to encode only the parameter values while preserving the URL structure, you may want to encode just the values separately and then construct the URL. The tool encodes the entire input as provided.
Encoding converts special characters to their percent-encoded form (e.g., space becomes %20). Decoding does the reverse, converting percent-encoded characters back to their readable form. You use encoding when preparing URLs for transmission, and decoding when you receive encoded URLs.
Absolutely. All encoding and decoding happens exclusively in your browser. Your data never travels to any server and is never stored. Once you close the page, all data is gone. This ensures complete privacy and security.
Yes! Our tool properly encodes international characters (Unicode) using UTF-8 encoding. Characters in other languages are safely converted to their encoded form. Decoding also works perfectly with international characters.