About the URL Encoder
URLs can only carry a limited character set, so spaces become %20 and anything non-ASCII becomes a percent-escaped byte sequence. This tool encodes and decodes in both the component and full-URI modes, which differ in whether they escape reserved characters like slashes and ampersands.
How to use the URL Encoder
- Paste the text or URL you want to convert.
- Choose component mode for a single query value, or full URI mode for a complete address.
- Press Encode or Decode.
- Copy the result into your code or address bar.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between component and full-URI encoding?
Component encoding escapes reserved characters including / ? & = #, which is correct for a single parameter value. Full-URI encoding leaves them intact so the URL structure survives.
Why does a space sometimes become + instead of %20?
Because HTML form submissions use the application/x-www-form-urlencoded format, where + means space. In a path segment a space must be %20; both appear in the wild.
How is non-English text encoded?
It is converted to UTF-8 bytes first, then each byte is percent-escaped. That is why a single accented character often becomes two escape sequences.
What is double encoding?
Encoding an already-encoded string, turning %20 into %2520. It is a common source of broken links and usually means encoding was applied at two layers of the stack.