🔗 URL Encoder/Decoder

Encode special characters for URLs or decode percent-encoded strings — runs in your browser.

What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding, also known as percent-encoding, replaces unsafe characters with a '%' followed by two hexadecimal digits. This ensures URLs remain valid and can be transmitted correctly over the internet.

Common URL Encodings

  • Space → %20: Spaces in URLs become %20 or + in form data Spaces in URLs become %20 or +
  • & → %26: Ampersand is encoded to avoid conflicting with query parameter separators Ampersand is encoded to avoid confusion with query separators
  • = → %3D: Equals sign is encoded in values to differentiate from key=value pairs Equals sign is encoded in values to prevent parsing issues
  • / → %2F: Forward slash encoded when it's part of a value, not a path separator Forward slash encoded when it's part of a value, not a path separator

Converts special URL characters to percent-encoded format ensuring valid URLs with spaces, Unicode, and special characters.

Key Facts

  • Defined in RFC 3986
  • Space: %20 or + in forms
  • Max URL length ~2048 chars in most browsers
  • Unicode is first UTF-8 encoded, then percent-encoded

Frequently Asked Questions

What is URL encoding?

Replaces unsafe chars with % + hex value. Space=%20, &=%26. URLs only support limited ASCII set.

Which chars need encoding?

Spaces, &, =, ?, #, and non-ASCII. Letters, digits, -_.~ are safe.

encodeURI vs encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI preserves URL structure chars (:/?#). encodeURIComponent encodes everything for query params.

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