- Paste or type the URL or text string into the 'Input' field.
- To encode, click the 'Encode' button. The tool will convert all applicable characters into their percent-encoded equivalents (e.g., ' ' becomes '%20').
- To decode, click the 'Decode' button. The tool will convert percent-encoded sequences back to their original characters.
- The result will instantly appear in the 'Output' field.
- Use the 'Copy' button to copy the result to your clipboard, or 'Load Demo' to see an example.
What is URL encoding (percent-encoding)?
URL encoding converts reserved and non-ASCII characters in a URL to a format that is universally accepted by web servers and browsers. It works by replacing the special character with a '%' sign followed by its two-digit hexadecimal representation. For example, a space is encoded as '%20'.
When should I encode a URL?
You should encode any URL that will be part of another URL's query string. This is common when passing data through GET parameters. Encoding prevents the data from being misinterpreted by the server and ensures the URL structure remains valid.
What's the difference between encodeURIComponent() and encodeURI()?
In JavaScript, `encodeURIComponent()` encodes all characters except for a very small set, making it ideal for encoding query string parameters. `encodeURI()` encodes fewer characters and is meant for encoding a full URI, as it will not encode characters with special meaning in a URL (like ':', '/', '?', '&', '='). Our tool uses `encodeURIComponent` for maximum safety.
Is this tool free to use?
Yes, our Online URL Encoder/Decoder is completely free. There are no usage limits. Encode and decode as many URLs as you need.
URL Encoding & Decoding Complete Guide【2026】- Percent Encoding Best Practices
Master URL encoding and decoding techniques. Learn special character handling, API data integrity, encodeURIComponent best practices. Includes JavaScript/Python/Java code examples!
URL Encoding: Why Context Determines What You Encode
A standards-grounded guide to URL percent-encoding covering RFC 3986 URI component grammar, reserved vs unreserved character sets, the UTF-8 encoding pipeline for non-ASCII, the critical difference between application/x-www-form-urlencoded and RFC 3986, double-encoding vulnerabilities, URL normalization for comparison, and cross-language API behavior in JavaScript, Python, Go, and Java.
URL
URL is a specific type of URI that provides the complete address to locate a resource on the internet, including the protocol, domain, path, and optional parameters.
Data URL
Data URL is a URI scheme that allows embedding small data items inline in web documents as if they were external resources, using Base64 encoding to represent binary data directly in the URL string.
URL Encoding
URL Encoding (Percent-Encoding) is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) by replacing unsafe ASCII characters with a '%' followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the character's byte value.