About this tool
Why it exists.
URLs only allow a limited set of characters, and characters such as spaces, ampersands and non-ASCII letters must be percent-encoded. The tricky part is knowing what to encode: an entire URL keeps its structural punctuation, while a query value must encode almost everything.
Use Component mode for a single parameter value. Use Full URL mode when you are escaping a complete address as data. The tool also decodes percent escapes and can treat '+' as a space for form-style strings. Malformed sequences produce a clear error rather than a half-decoded URL.
How to use it.
- Choose Encode or Decode, then Component or Full URL.
- Paste your text. Enable plus-as-space when decoding form data.
- Copy the result or swap it to decode in the other direction.
Good questions.
What is the difference between Component and Full URL mode?
Component mode uses encodeURIComponent and escapes characters that would otherwise end a query parameter, including &, =, ? and /. Full URL mode uses encodeURI and preserves the structural punctuation that makes a URL work.
Should a space become + or %20?
In a URL path, use %20. In application/x-www-form-urlencoded data, a space is traditionally represented by +. When decoding form data, enable plus-as-space; otherwise a literal plus may be part of the value.