URL encode and decode

What it does

URL encoding, also called percent-encoding, writes characters that can’t appear in a URL as % and two hex digits, so a space becomes %20. This tool works with text:

• Encode writes your text as UTF-8 bytes and escapes every byte a URL can’t hold as it is, with upper-case hex.
• Decode reads every %XX escape back as a byte, and the bytes as text. Characters that aren’t escaped are read as typed.

How to use it

1. Choose Encode or Decode, then paste or type into “Your text”. Select “Try a sample” to see an example.
2. The result appears next to your text and updates as you type.
3. Select Swap to move the result into “Your text” and switch between Encode and Decode, for example to check that an encoded value decodes back to your text.
4. Select Copy to put the result on your clipboard.

Options

• Whole URL (off) keeps the characters that give a URL its shape. Off, only A–Z a–z 0–9 - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) stay as typed, as JavaScript’s encodeURIComponent does. On, ; , / ? : @ & = + $ # stay too, as encodeURI does. It only changes encoding.
• Spaces as + (off) writes a space as + and a typed + as %2B, as web forms send them, and reads + as a space when decoding.
• The tool remembers the mode and the options you chose on this device.

Good to know

• If a % isn’t followed by two hex digits, the tool shows it with its line and column, for example %8 at the end of a value that was cut short.
• Escapes for bytes that don’t form UTF-8 text are reported instead of being shown as garbled characters.
• Encoding a value that is already encoded escapes its % signs again (%20 becomes %2520). Decode first if you aren’t sure.

Limits

Your text can be up to 1,000,000 characters long.

Privacy

Your text is processed on your device: encoding and decoding run in your browser, and nothing you type or paste is uploaded. Only your choices for the mode, Whole URL and Spaces as + are kept in your browser for next time.