URL Encoder / Decoder

Encode special characters for URLs or decode percent-encoded strings.

String to Encode
Encoded Result

Free Online URL Encoder & Decoder

Bitlist's URL Encoder/Decoder is an essential tool for web developers and SEO specialists. It validates and converts URL strings to ensure they are safe for transmission over the internet, adhering to RFC 3986 standards.

Key Features

  • Percent-Encoding Validity: Automatically converts unsafe characters (like spaces to %20 or +) to ensure URLs work across all browsers.
  • UTF-8 & Unicode Support: Correctly encodes non-ASCII characters, allowing you to debug URLs with foreign languages or emojis (e.g., "café" → caf%C3%A9).
  • Instant Feedback: Type or paste your URL, and see the encoded result immediately without page reloads.
  • Privacy Guaranteed: All processing happens in your browser's JavaScript engine. Your URLs are never sent to our servers.

Common Use Cases

  • Query Parameters: Escape special characters in URL parameters to prevent broken links (e.g., encoding & or ? inside a search query).
  • Data Clean-up: Decode messy, unreadable URLs copied from email marketing campaigns or tracking links.
  • API Debugging: Encode JSON payloads or tokens before passing them in GET requests.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding (or percent-encoding) is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Characters that are not allowed in a URL (like spaces) must be converted to a % followed by two hexadecimal digits.

Difference between %20 and +?

Classically, spaces in query parameters (after the ?) were encoded as + (application/x-www-form-urlencoded), while spaces in the path were encoded as %20. Modern standards prefer %20 for consistency, which this tool uses by default.

Is my data safe?

Yes. This tool runs 100% client-side. We do not store, log, or transmit the URLs you enter here.