Should I encode the full URL or just the query parameter value?

Encode individual query parameter values only, not the full URL. Encoding the full URL will turn the : after https into %3A and the / path separators into %2F, breaking the URL entirely.

What is the difference between %20 and + for spaces?

encodeURIComponent encodes spaces as %20. Some older form-submission encodings use + for spaces (application/x-www-form-urlencoded). This tool uses %20, which is correct for modern URLs.

Does it handle non-ASCII characters like Chinese or Arabic?

Yes. Non-ASCII characters are first converted to their UTF-8 byte sequences, then each byte is percent-encoded. For example, the Chinese character 中 encodes to %E4%B8%AD.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. Encoding and decoding use the browser's built-in encodeURIComponent and decodeURIComponent functions. Nothing is transmitted.

URL Encoder / Decoder

Percent-encode URL components or decode %xx sequences back to readable text instantly.

How to use this tool

1Paste your raw text or percent-encoded string into the left 'Input' textarea.
2Click Encode to convert special characters to %XX sequences, or Decode to convert %XX sequences back to readable text.
3The result appears in the right 'Output' textarea ready to copy.
4If decoding fails due to a malformed sequence, a red error message is shown.

About URL Encoder / Decoder

Spaces, ampersands, equals signs, and non-ASCII characters inside a URL query string must be percent-encoded or the server will misparse the request. This tool applies encodeURIComponent() to encode and decodeURIComponent() to decode — the same functions browsers use internally. Encoding converts every character except A–Z, a–z, 0–9, and - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) into its %XX hex form: a space becomes %20, an ampersand becomes %26, and a Chinese character like 中 becomes its three-byte UTF-8 sequence %E4%B8%AD. Decoding reverses this exactly. Paste the full encoded query string to decode it all at once, or paste a raw parameter value to encode it before appending to a URL. Backend developers use this when constructing redirect_uri parameters for OAuth flows; frontend developers use it when debugging fetch() calls where query params contain special characters.

Frequently asked questions

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