URL Encoder & Decoder
Percent-encode text for safe use in URLs, and decode encoded URLs back to readable text.
Getting special characters into a URL
URLs can only safely contain a limited set of characters, so spaces, ampersands, question marks and anything non-English have to be percent-encoded — a space becomes %20, and so on. This encodes text so it can sit safely in a URL or query string, and decodes an encoded URL back into something you can read.
Paste text to encode it for a URL, or paste an encoded URL to decode it.
Two levels of encoding
A subtlety that trips people up: there is encoding for a whole URL and encoding for a single component within it. A component like a query-string value needs more aggressive encoding, because characters like the ampersand and equals sign are structural in a URL and must be escaped inside a value or they break the parsing. When a link with parameters misbehaves, an unencoded special character in a value is very often the cause, and encoding it correctly fixes it.
Common questions
Why does a space become %20 in a URL?
URLs only allow certain characters, so spaces and other special characters are percent-encoded to travel safely.
Why does my link with parameters break?
Often an unencoded special character — an ampersand or equals sign — inside a value breaks the URL's structure. Encoding the value fixes it.
Is my text uploaded?
No. The encoding happens in your browser.