Encode text or full URLs into percent-encoded strings, decode them back to readable text, or break any URL apart into its individual query parameters, instantly, right in your browser. No uploads, no account required, and no limits on how many times you can use it.
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- Choose Encode/Decode or Parse Query String using the tabs at the top of the tool.
- To encode: select “Encode”, choose “Component” if you’re encoding a value that will sit inside a query string (like a UTM parameter), or “Full URL” if you’re encoding an entire link that still needs to work as a clickable URL. Paste your text, click Convert, then copy the result.
- To decode: select “Decode”, paste a percent-encoded string (like
hello%20world%3F), and click Convert to get the readable text back. - To break a URL into its parameters: switch to the “Parse Query String” tab, paste a full URL or a bare query string, and click Parse to see every key/value pair decoded in a table: then copy them all as JSON.
What Is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) converts characters that aren’t allowed or aren’t safe in a URL, spaces, ampersands, question marks, non-Latin characters, and more, into a “%” followed by two hex digits. Browsers, servers, and APIs rely on this so that special characters inside a URL don’t get misread as part of the URL’s structure.
- Component encoding (
encodeURIComponent) escapes almost every reserved character, including? & = / #. Use it for individual query string values, like a UTM parameter or a search term. - Full URL encoding (
encodeURI) leaves the URL’s structural characters (: / ? # [ ] @) untouched so the link still works, but still encodes spaces and unsafe characters. - Decoding reverses the process, turning
%20back into a space,%3Dback into=, and so on.
Common Use Cases for Marketers & Developers
URL encoding and decoding come up constantly in day-to-day marketing and dev work:
- Building UTM links where a campaign name or search query contains spaces or special characters that need to be safely encoded.
- Debugging redirects and tracking pixels that pass encoded URLs as parameters of other URLs.
- Reading server logs or analytics reports where referrer and landing page URLs show up percent-encoded and hard to read at a glance.
- Auditing a long affiliate or ad-platform URL by parsing out every query parameter to check tracking IDs, click IDs, and campaign tags.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?
encodeURI (Full URL mode) is meant for encoding a whole URL and leaves characters like : / ? # & untouched so the link keeps working. encodeURIComponent (Component mode) is meant for encoding a single value, like one query parameter, and escapes those same characters, since they’d otherwise break the URL’s structure.
Why do spaces sometimes show up as %20 and sometimes as +?
Both represent a space. %20 is standard percent-encoding used throughout a URL. + is a legacy convention specific to the query string in application/x-www-form-urlencoded data (like classic HTML form submissions). This tool decodes both correctly.
Is URL encoding the same as encryption?
No. URL encoding just makes text safe to include in a URL, it’s fully and instantly reversible by anyone, including this tool. It provides no security or privacy on its own.
Why did decoding my string fail?
This usually means the string isn’t valid percent-encoding, for example, it contains a lone % not followed by two valid hex digits. Double-check you copied the entire encoded string without missing or extra characters.
Is this tool free and does it send my data anywhere?
Yes, completely free with no account required. All encoding, decoding, and parsing happens locally in your browser using JavaScript, nothing is uploaded to any server.
Sources
- IETF, “RFC 3986: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax“, accessed September 2026.
- MDN Web Docs, “encodeURIComponent()“, accessed September 2026.
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