URLs can only contain a limited set of ASCII characters. Spaces and symbols like ? or & must be encoded to preserve data integrity.

What is percent-encoding?

The process of replacing reserved characters with a % followed by two hex digits representing the character code.

It is the URL-encoded representation of a space character.

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URL Encoder / Decoder

URL Encoder & Decoder: Encode and Decode Percent-Encoded Strings

Our URL Encode / Decode tool (also known as Percent-Encoding) allows you to safely format text for use in URLs. It ensures that special characters, spaces, and non-ASCII symbols are converted into a format that web browsers and servers can interpret correctly.

Encoding is required because certain characters have special meanings in a URL (like '?', '&', and '/'). If those characters are part of your data, they must be 'escaped' so they don't break the structure of the web address.

This tool is 100% secure and runs entirely client-side. Your data is processed locally and is never transmitted or stored on our servers.

How URL Encoding Works

URL Encoding, or percent-encoding, replaces non-alphanumeric characters with a % followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the character's ASCII value.

For example, a **Space** becomes **%20**, a **Slash (/)** becomes **%2F**, and an **Ampersand (&)** becomes **%26**. This allows complex strings to be passed as query parameters in a GET request.

Modern browsers handle much of this automatically, but developers often need to manually encode strings when building URLs in code or debugging server logs.

How to Use the URL Tool

Step 1: Paste Data: Enter the text you want to process into the input area.
Step 2: Encode: Click 'URL Encode' to make the text safe for use in a web address.
Step 3: Decode: Click 'URL Decode' to convert a messy-looking URL string back into human-readable text.
Step 4: One-Click Copy: Use the copy button to quickly grab your results for use in your project.

Reserved vs. Unreserved Characters

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Unreserved
Characters that don't need encoding: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and '-', '.', '_', '~'.
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Reserved
Characters with special jobs: '!', '*', ''', '(', ')', ';', ':', '@', '&', '=', '+', '$', ',', '/', '?', '#', '[', ']'.
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Space Options
Standard encoding uses '%20' for spaces, but some systems use a '+' sign (application/x-www-form-urlencoded).

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I use spaces in a URL?

URLs have a strict structure. Spaces are terminators in many web protocols; encoding them as %20 maintains the integrity of the address.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI keeps basic URL structures (/ ? : & =). encodeURIComponent encodes everything, making the string safe to use as a *value* inside a parameter.