Encode special characters in URLs to make them safe for transmission, or decode percent-encoded strings back to readable text. Supports full URL encoding and component-level encoding.
Workspace
Use the tool below. Your inputs stay local when the tool supports browser-only processing.
Last reviewed: · Testing methodology
Workflow
Type or paste the text or URL containing special characters like spaces, ampersands, or question marks into the input box. When you use this URL encoder decoder online tool, unsafe characters are instantly converted into their percent-encoded equivalents that browsers and servers can safely interpret.
Toggle between the encode and decode modes depending on your task. Select encode to transform plain text into a URL-safe format, or switch to decode if you need to convert an encoded URL back into its original human-readable form using this free URL encoder decoder online tool.
The converted string appears immediately in the output field ready for use. Copy the result and insert it into your application code, query parameters, or API calls to ensure reliable data transmission across the web.
The browser's URI component functions convert text to UTF-8 percent escapes or restore a valid escaped component.
Use it for query values and path components. If decoding fails, look for a lone percent sign or incomplete hexadecimal pair.
Use the URL and URLSearchParams APIs in application code to construct complete URLs without double-encoding.
| Option | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| This browser tool | Quick, private, one-off work | Limited by browser memory and the documented feature set |
| Desktop or command-line tool | Batch jobs and repeatable automation | Requires installation and setup |
Reviewed by the Free Online Tools Nest Team on 2026-08-26. The interface, output path, and documented limitations were checked against the current implementation. See our testing methodology for the review process.
Read the testing methodologyYou need a URL encoder decoder online whenever your URL contains characters that have special meaning in web addresses, such as spaces, ampersands, percent signs, or non-ASCII characters. This is especially common when building query parameters dynamically, constructing API request URLs, or processing user-submitted form data that includes special symbols.
URL encoding transforms unsafe characters into a percent-sign followed by two hexadecimal digits, making the string safe for transmission over the internet. URL decoding reverses this process, converting percent-encoded sequences back into their original characters so you can read the actual value stored in the URL parameter.