Free URL Encoder/Decoder – Encode and Decode URLs Online
URL encoding, also known as percent-encoding, is a mechanism for converting characters into a format that can be safely transmitted within a URL. Since URLs can only contain certain characters from the ASCII set, any special characters, spaces, or non-ASCII characters must be encoded using a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits.
Our URL encoder/decoder supports two standard JavaScript encoding modes. The encodeURIComponent function encodes all special characters, making it ideal for encoding individual query parameters or form values. The encodeURI function preserves the URL structure characters like colons, slashes, question marks, and hash symbols, making it suitable for encoding complete URLs.
Understanding the difference between these two modes is crucial for web developers. Using encodeURIComponent on a full URL would break it by encoding the protocol separators and path delimiters. Conversely, using encodeURI on a query parameter value would fail to encode characters like ampersands and equals signs that have special meaning in query strings.
Common use cases for URL encoding include building API request URLs with dynamic parameters, encoding form data for submission, handling internationalized URLs with non-Latin characters, and debugging encoded URLs by decoding them back to readable text. Our tool provides instant bidirectional encoding and decoding with a clean, simple interface.