URL Encoder / Decoder
Encode text for safe use in a URL, or decode it back to readable text. It runs entirely in your browser, so the file never leaves your computer.
What percent-encoding is solving
A URL has a grammar. ? starts the query string, & separates parameters, = joins a name to its value, / separates path segments. Those characters mean something structural.
So when a value inside the URL needs to contain one of them — a search for "fish & chips", a redirect URL carrying its own query string — it has to be disguised, or the address breaks in a way that is maddening to debug. Percent-encoding does the disguising: a space becomes %20, an ampersand becomes %26.
Component versus Full URL — the setting that trips everyone
These are genuinely different jobs and picking the wrong one is the usual reason an encoded URL misbehaves.
Component is for a single value you are placing inside a URL. It escapes the structural characters too, because in that position they are data, not structure. Use it for one query-string value.
Full URL is for a whole address. It deliberately leaves / ? & = alone, because those are doing their structural job and escaping them would destroy the address. If you decoded something in Full URL mode and your ampersands stayed as %26, that is correct behaviour — switch to Component to decode literally.
The decode error with one cause
"Not valid percent-encoding" means a % in the input is not followed by two hex digits. Usually it is a literal percent sign that was never encoded in the first place, or a string that got truncated mid-code.
Search the input for a lone % and you will have it.
Questions
Common questions
What does this tool do?
It converts text to and from URL (percent) encoding. Encoding turns characters that aren't safe in a web address — spaces, &, ?, accented letters and so on — into % codes; decoding turns those codes back into readable text.
How do I use it?
Pick Encode or Decode, then type or paste into the top box — the result appears below as you type. Copy the result, or use the swap arrow to send it back through the other direction.
What's the difference between Component and Full URL?
Component is for a single value you're putting inside a URL — like one query-string value — and it escapes the structural characters / ? : & = as well, because otherwise they'd be misread as part of the URL. Full URL is for encoding a whole web address, where you want to keep those structural characters working.
Why didn't Full URL decode my & or = signs?
That's intentional and correct. In Full URL mode, characters that define a URL's structure (like & ? = /) are left as-is so the address isn't broken. If you want every code decoded literally, including those, use Component mode instead.
I got a 'not valid percent-encoding' error — why?
Decoding needs well-formed % codes — a % followed by two hex digits, like %20. If the text has a stray % or an incomplete code (like %2 with nothing after), it can't be decoded. Check the input for a lone % sign.
Is this the same as Base64?
No. URL encoding makes text safe to put in a web address; Base64 turns binary data into plain text for transport or storage. They solve different problems — there's a separate Base64 tool if that's what you need.
Is my text private?
Completely. Encoding and decoding happen entirely in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded or sent anywhere.
Our own software
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