URL Encoder/Decoder
URL Encoding Support: Safely encodes/decodes special characters that cannot be used in URLs. UTF-8 based; supports all Unicode characters.
Standard: RFC 3986 - Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax | Percent-Encoding (Section 2.1)
Component: Suitable for query parameters and path segments. Encodes more characters (e.g., : / ? # [ ] @ ! $ & ' ( ) * + , ; =).
Examples:
The URL Encoder/Decoder converts special characters in URLs to a safe percent-encoded format (%XX) or decodes them back. All processing happens in your browser; no data is sent to servers.
How to Use
- 1
Select "Encode" or "Decode" tab.
- 2
In Live mode (default), conversion happens automatically as you type. Switch to Manual mode to convert on button click.
- 3
Choose encoding type: Component (recommended) or Standard.
- 4
Enter your URL or text.
- 5
Copy the result or use "Swap" to exchange input and output.
Use Cases
Query Parameters
Safely pass special characters in URL query strings.
API Requests
Encode special characters in API paths or parameters.
URL Debugging
Decode encoded URLs to inspect actual values.
Data Transfer
Safely transfer multilingual data (Korean, emojis, etc.) via URLs.
What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (Percent Encoding) converts characters that are unsafe or have special meaning in URLs into %XX format, where XX is the UTF-8 byte in hexadecimal.
Reserved characters (: / ? # [ ] @ ! $ & ' ( ) * + , ; =) have special meaning in URLs and must be encoded when used as data.
Component type (encodeURIComponent) encodes almost all special characters, including reserved ones, for use in URL parts like query parameters.
Standard type (encodeURI) encodes full URLs while preserving URL structure characters like : / ? #.
RFC 3986 (January 2005): This tool follows IETF RFC 3986. Section 2.1 defines Percent-Encoding with %HEXDIG HEXDIG format. JavaScript's encodeURI/encodeURIComponent implement this standard with UTF-8 encoding for all Unicode characters, obsoleting RFC 2396 (1998).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q.Is my data safe?
A. Yes, completely safe. All encoding and decoding operations are processed only in your browser; data is never sent to or stored on our servers.
Q.Difference between Component and Standard?
A. Component (encodeURIComponent) encodes almost all special characters for URL parts. Standard (encodeURI) encodes full URLs while preserving URL structure (: / ? #). Use Component for most cases.
Q.How are spaces encoded?
A. Spaces are encoded as %20. Some systems use +, but this tool uses the standard %20. Decoding converts both %20 and + to spaces.
Q.Can I encode Korean or emojis?
A. Yes. This tool uses UTF-8 encoding, so it accurately encodes and decodes all Unicode characters including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, emojis, etc.
Q.What happens with invalid encoding?
A. Invalid formats (e.g., %ZZ, %1) show clear error messages indicating what went wrong. % must be followed by exactly 2 hexadecimal digits (0-9, A-F).
Q.Is URL encoding encryption?
A. No, URL encoding is not encryption. It simply converts unsafe characters to a safe format. Anyone can easily decode it, so do not use it to protect sensitive information.
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