URL Encode / Decode
Encode text for safe use in a URL, or decode percent-encoded text back to readable form.
Runs locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
What is URL Encode / Decode?
URL Encode / Decode is a free online tool that converts text between its readable form and its percent-encoded form, the format used inside web addresses. URLs can only safely contain a limited set of characters: letters, digits, and a few punctuation marks. Everything else, including spaces, ampersands, non-English characters, and emoji, must be rewritten as a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits, such as %20 for a space. This encoding is what lets a search term, a file name, or a message travel inside a link without breaking it.
The tool offers two modes because one encoding rule does not fit every job. Component mode treats the input as a single piece of a URL, such as one query value or one path segment, and encodes every special character in it, so an ampersand inside a value cannot be mistaken for the separator between two parameters. Whole-URL mode treats the input as a complete address and leaves the structural characters alone, so colons, slashes, question marks, and equals signs stay readable while only the unsafe characters are encoded. Both directions are supported: encode readable text into percent form, or decode percent form back into readable text.
How to use URL Encode / Decode
First, paste or type your text into the input box. Next, choose the mode: pick “Component” when encoding a single value that will sit inside a URL, and “Whole URL” when encoding an entire address. Then click “Encode” to percent-encode the text, or “Decode” to reverse a percent-encoded string. The result appears in the output box, ready to copy. If the input contains a broken percent sequence, for example a lone percent sign, the tool reports a clear error instead of producing a silently wrong result.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between component mode and whole-URL mode?
Component mode encodes every special character, including & and =, because a single value must not contain characters that separate URL parts. Whole-URL mode keeps : / ? & = and # intact so the address structure survives, and only encodes characters that are unsafe in a URL.
Why does a space become %20?
A space is not allowed in a URL, so it is replaced by its percent-encoded form, %20. In older form encoding a space is sometimes written as a plus sign, but %20 is the standard form for URLs and works everywhere.
What does the malformed percent sequence error mean?
It means the input contains a % that is not followed by two hexadecimal digits, for example “100%” or “%2”. Such a sequence cannot be decoded, so the tool stops and tells you to fix the input rather than guessing.
Are non-English characters encoded correctly?
Yes. Characters outside ASCII are first converted to UTF-8 bytes and then percent-encoded byte by byte, which is the standard behavior browsers use, so the result matches what a browser would produce.
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