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TabBench

URL Encoder & Decoder

Percent-encode a value, a whole URL or form data, decode encoded text even when parts are broken, and break a URL down into its parts and parameters.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you add is uploaded.

What the URL Encoder & Decoder does

URLs may only contain a restricted set of ASCII characters, so anything else — spaces, ampersands, accented letters, emoji — must be percent-encoded to survive the trip. Get this wrong and a query parameter silently truncates at the first '&', or a redirect drops half its target. This tool encodes text the right way for where it's going — a single value, a whole URL, or HTML form data with + for spaces — and decodes percent-encoded text without giving up on the first broken escape. It also spots double encoding and breaks any URL into its parts, with every query parameter decoded.

How to encode or decode a URL

  1. Choose Encode, Decode or Break down a URL.
  2. When encoding, say what the text is: a single value or path part (which must escape / ? & =), a whole URL (which must keep them), or form data (spaces become +).
  3. When decoding, keep “+ means a space” on for query strings and turn it off for paths.
  4. Read the result. If it still contains escapes like %20, it was encoded twice — use Decode again.
  5. To inspect a link, use Break down a URL to see the host, path and each query parameter in plain text.

The URL Encoder & Decoder runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored, or logged.

When to use it

Building query strings safely

A search term containing '&' or '=' will break the parameter it sits in unless encoded. Encoding the value — not the whole URL — is the correct fix.

Passing a URL as a parameter

Redirect and callback parameters carry one URL inside another. The inner URL must be fully component-encoded, turning '://' into '%3A%2F%2F', or the outer URL's parser will misread it.

Reading encoded links from logs

Analytics and server logs store URLs encoded. Decoding makes it obvious what a user actually searched for or which campaign parameters were attached.

Good to know

  • Spaces become '%20' in paths but may appear as '+' in query strings — both decode to a space, but only in the query component.
  • Encoding an already-encoded string double-encodes it: '%20' becomes '%2520'. If you see '%25' in output you did not expect, that is the symptom.
  • The characters - _ . ~ are unreserved and never need encoding.
  • Fragment identifiers after '#' are never sent to the server, so encoding problems there are purely client-side.

Frequently asked questions

Why encode URLs?

URLs can only contain certain ASCII characters. Special characters like spaces or symbols must be percent-encoded.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI is for a complete URL and deliberately leaves structural characters like ':', '/', '?', and '#' alone so the URL stays valid. encodeURIComponent is for a single piece — one parameter value or path segment — and escapes those characters too. Using the wrong one is the most common source of broken links: encode a full URL with encodeURI, encode a value going into a parameter with encodeURIComponent.

Why does my encoded URL have %2520 in it?

That is a double-encoded space. The text was encoded twice: ' ' became '%20', then the '%' in '%20' was itself encoded to '%25', producing '%2520'. Decode once and re-encode a single time to fix it.

Do I need to encode non-English characters?

Yes for transmission, though modern browsers hide this. Characters outside ASCII are converted to UTF-8 bytes and each byte is percent-encoded, so 'é' becomes '%C3%A9'. The address bar displays the readable form while sending the encoded one.

Should spaces be %20 or +?

'%20' is correct everywhere and always safe. '+' means a space only within the query string, under the older form-encoding rules. In a path segment, '+' is a literal plus sign — which is exactly why email addresses with '+' in them so often break.

Is there a maximum URL length?

The specification sets no limit, but implementations do. Roughly 2,000 characters is the practical safe ceiling across browsers, servers, and proxies. Since encoding expands the string, a URL that fits before encoding may not after.

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