URL Encoder/Decoder
Encode and decode URLs and URL components. Handle special characters, spaces, and non-ASCII characters with proper percent encoding.
Upload a text file to encode/decode
Supports .txt files (max 1MB)Text to Encode
Encoded URL
Recent Conversions
How to Use This Tool
- Select whether you want to encode or decode using the tabs
- Enter your text or URL in the input field
- Choose encoding options if encoding (spaces, full encoding, etc.)
- Click "Convert" to process, or use the swap button to exchange input/output
- Copy to clipboard or download the result as a text file
Frequently Asked Questions
URL encoding (also known as percent-encoding) is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). It converts special characters into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet. For example, spaces become %20 or +, and characters like ?, &, = have special meanings in URLs and must be encoded.
You need to encode URLs when they contain special characters like spaces, ampersands (&), question marks (?), equals signs (=), or non-ASCII characters (like Γ©, Γ±, δΈζ). These characters have special meanings in URLs and need to be encoded to be transmitted correctly. For example, in query parameters, spaces are often encoded as + or %20.
encodeURI() is used to encode a complete URL, preserving characters that are part of the URL syntax (:, /, ?, &, =). encodeURIComponent() encodes everything, including these special characters, and is used for encoding query parameter values. Our "Full URL encoding" option uses encodeURIComponent.
In URL paths, spaces must be encoded as %20. In query strings (after ?), spaces can be encoded as either + or %20. The + form is commonly used in form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded). Our tool supports both options - check "Encode spaces as %20" or "Use + for spaces" depending on your needs.
Unicode characters (like emojis or non-Latin scripts) must be encoded using UTF-8 percent encoding. Our "Encode Unicode characters" option handles this automatically. For example, 'cafΓ©' becomes 'caf%C3%A9' and 'π₯' becomes '%F0%9F%94%A5'.