How to use the URL Encode / Decode
- Choose Encode or Decode
- Paste your text or URL
- Copy the result; paste a full URL to see its parts
About this tool
URLs can only contain a limited set of ASCII characters. Anything else, such as spaces, &, ? or non-English letters, must be percent-encoded as UTF-8 bytes (é → %C3%A9). Component mode (encodeURIComponent) encodes everything except letters, digits and -_.!~*'(), which is right for a single query value. Full URL mode (encodeURI) keeps :/?#&= so the URL still works. Form mode writes spaces as +, like HTML forms do.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI is for a whole URL and leaves characters like / ? & = alone. encodeURIComponent is for one piece, such as a query value, and encodes those characters too.
Why is a space sometimes %20 and sometimes +?
In query strings sent by HTML forms (application/x-www-form-urlencoded), spaces become +. Everywhere else in a URL they are %20. The decoder can treat + as a space.
What does “malformed” mean?
A % must be followed by two hex digits that form valid UTF-8. A stray % or a cut-off sequence cannot be decoded.
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