URL Encoder/Decoder

Encode and decode URL strings for safe transmission

URL Encoder & Decoder

Safely encode characters for use in web addresses or decode messy URLs back to readability. This tool strictly adheres to RFC 3986 standards, ensuring your URLs work correctly across all modern browsers and servers.

Why Encode?

URLs can only use a specific subset of ASCII characters. Any unsafe characters (spaces, emojis, special symbols) must be converted to a %XX format.

Space %20
& (Ampersand) %26
/ (Slash) %2F

Common Pitfalls

  • 🚫
    Double Encoding: Encoding %20 again results in %2520. Our tool detects this pattern and warns you.
  • 📧
    Email Subjects: "mailto:" links behave differently. Use encodeURIComponent() for subjects and bodies to safely handle spaces and line breaks.

Technical Reference

FunctionEncodesBest For
encodeURI()Spaces and special chars, preservers : / ? # & =Full URLs where structure must remain intact.
encodeURIComponent()Everything except alphanumeric and - _ . ! ~ * ' ( )Query parameter values (e.g. ?q=your_value).

FAQ

Plus (+) vs %20 for space?
%20 is the standard for URL paths. + is a legacy standard used specifically in query strings (`application/x-www-form-urlencoded`). Modern APIs prefer %20 everywhere.
Does this handle emojis?
Yes! Emojis are first converted to UTF-8 bytes and then percent-encoded. For example, 🚀 becomes %F0%9F%9A%80.