What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding, also known as percent-encoding, is a mechanism for encoding characters in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Any character that isn’t an unreserved character (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, -, _, ., ~) must be percent-encoded.
How to Use
- Paste your URL or text into the input area
- Click “Encode” to URL-encode the text, or “Decode” to decode a URL-encoded string
- Copy the result
Common URL Encoding Values
| Character | Encoded |
|---|
| Space | %20 (or +) |
| ! | %21 |
| # | %23 |
| $ | %24 |
| & | %26 |
| + | %2B |
| / | %2F |
| = | %3D |
| ? | %3F |
| @ | %40 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is URL encoding?
URL encoding (also called percent encoding) converts special characters into a format that can be safely transmitted in a URL. Characters are replaced with a % sign followed by their hexadecimal ASCII value.
Why do URLs need encoding?
URLs can only contain certain ASCII characters. Special characters like spaces, ampersands, and non-ASCII characters must be encoded to be safely included in URLs. For example, a space becomes %20.
What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI encodes a full URI, preserving characters like : / ? # that have special meaning in URLs. encodeURIComponent encodes everything except letters, digits, and - _ . ~, making it suitable for encoding query parameter values.
Is my data safe?
Yes. All encoding and decoding happens in your browser. No data is sent to any server.