A URL can only safely contain a limited set of characters — everything else, from spaces to Urdu script to emoji, must be percent-encoded. Our free URL Encoder / Decoder does the job correctly in both directions, right in your browser. Encoding offers two styles: Component (encodeURIComponent) for query-string values, where / ? & and = must be encoded too, and Full URL (encodeURI) for complete addresses, where those structural characters stay intact. Decoding reverses percent-encoding and reports clearly when the input is malformed. No signup, nothing uploaded.
Picking the wrong style is the classic bug: encoding a whole URL as a component mangles its structure, while encoding a query value as a full URL leaves & and = unencoded and breaks your parameters. The tool labels each style with exactly when to use it, so the choice is obvious.
Developers debugging webhooks, marketers building UTM-tagged campaign links, and anyone pasting a link with special characters into a CMS will reach for this constantly. It is fast, private, and free forever.
URL Encoder/Decoder
Encode and decode URLs and URI components with full UTF-8 support.
How to use
- Choose Encode or Decode at the top.
- For encoding, pick Component for a query value or Full URL for a complete address.
- Paste your URL or text into the box.
- Click Encode URL or Decode URL.
- Click Copy Output to copy the result.
- Use Clear to reset.
FAQs
Component vs Full URL — which do I need?
Use Component (encodeURIComponent) when the text goes inside a URL as a value — a search term, a name in a query string — because it encodes / ? & = # too. Use Full URL (encodeURI) when you have a complete address and want its structure preserved while only the unsafe characters get encoded.
Why did decoding fail?
Decoding needs valid percent-encoding: every % must be followed by two hexadecimal digits. A lone % at the end, a truncated sequence like %2, or non-hex characters after % all cause a failure — the tool tells you to check for stray or cut-off sequences.
Does it handle non-English URLs?
Yes. Both encode styles first convert text to UTF-8, so Arabic, Urdu, Chinese characters and emojis become correct multi-byte %XX sequences, and decoding reassembles them properly.