How to Encode and Decode a URL
URLs can only safely contain a limited set of characters. Everything else — spaces, ampersands, accented letters, anything non-Latin — has to be percent-encoded, which is why you see things like %20 in links. Getting this right matters, because the wrong kind of encoding either breaks the URL or silently truncates a parameter, and the failure is often invisible until something downstream misbehaves.
Choose encode or decode
Encode to make text URL-safe, decode to read an encoded link. If the input already looks encoded, you are offered a switch.
Pick what you are encoding
A single value, a whole URL, or form data. This is the choice that most often goes wrong.
Read the breakdown
Paste any URL and its protocol, host, path and every query parameter are shown decoded in a table.
The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
There are two encoding functions, they behave differently, and picking the wrong one is the single most common URL bug in existence. Encoding a whole URLleaves the structural characters alone — the slashes, the question mark, the ampersands between parameters — because those characters are doing a job. It escapes only the genuinely unsafe ones, like spaces.
Encoding a valueescapes those structural characters too, and that is the point. Suppose you are putting a search term into a query parameter and the term contains an ampersand. If you do not escape it, the URL parser reads it as the start of a new parameter, and your search term is silently cut in half. This is why a search for "fish & chips" so often arrives at the server as just "fish".
The rule is simple once stated: encode each value individually, then assemble the URL. Never encode an assembled URL as if it were a value, and never put an unencoded value into a URL. The third option here, form data, is a small variation used when submitting HTML forms, where a space becomes + rather than %20.
Common Situations This Tool Solves
Building a link with user input in it
Search terms, names and addresses all contain characters that break a query string. Encoding each value first is the only safe way to build the link.
Reading a long tracking URL
Marketing links are often a wall of encoded parameters. The breakdown table shows every one decoded, which is far quicker than reading it by eye.
Debugging why a parameter is truncated
A value arriving cut short at an ampersand or a hash is nearly always an encoding problem. Pasting the URL here makes it obvious immediately.
Handling non-Latin text in links
Hindi, Arabic, Chinese and accented characters all need encoding. Decoding shows what an intimidating string of percent signs actually says.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I URL encode text for free?
Paste it and the encoded result appears instantly. Free, no signup, and nothing is uploaded.
What is the difference between encoding a value and a whole URL?
Encoding a value escapes structural characters like & and ? so they cannot break the URL. Encoding a whole URL leaves them intact, since they are doing a job.
Which one should I use?
Encode each value individually, then assemble the URL. Never encode an assembled URL as if it were a value.
Why does my query parameter get cut off?
Almost always an unescaped ampersand in the value. The parser reads it as the start of a new parameter, silently truncating yours.
What does %20 mean?
It is a space. Percent encoding writes a character as a percent sign followed by its byte value in hexadecimal, and 20 in hex is the space character.
Why do some URLs use + for spaces?
That is the form-data convention, used when submitting HTML forms. Both appear in the wild, which is why there is a separate mode for it.
Is my URL uploaded to a server?
No. Everything runs inside your browser, which matters since URLs often contain tokens and identifiers.
Can I see what is in a long tracking URL?
Yes. Paste it and the breakdown table lists every parameter with its decoded value.
How do I encode a list of values at once?
Tick Process each line separately and every line is encoded independently.
Why did decoding throw an error?
The input contains a percent sign not followed by two valid hex digits, which is not a legal escape sequence.
Does it handle non-Latin characters?
Yes. They are encoded as UTF-8 bytes, which is the correct behaviour and what servers expect.
Is this URL encoder really free?
Completely free, with no limits, no signup and no premium wall. Everything runs in your browser.
Last updated: July 21, 2026 · FlipMyFormat URL Encoder
Written and maintained by the FlipMyFormat team