URL Encoder & Decoder

URL component encoding

Component encoding is for one value inside a URL, such as a query parameter name, query parameter value, or path segment. It converts spaces, Unicode characters, ampersands, equals signs, slashes, question marks, and other reserved characters into percent escapes where required. For example, a search value containing JSON & APIs must not let the ampersand become a second query parameter.

Encode each dynamic value once before joining it with trusted structural delimiters. Encoding an already encoded value can turn %20 into %2520, while skipping component encoding can change the path or query structure. This tool uses the browser’s native encodeURIComponent and decodeURIComponent behavior so the result matches ordinary JavaScript clients.

Complete URL encoding

A complete URL already contains meaningful delimiters such as :, /, ?, &, =, and #. Complete URL mode preserves those delimiters while escaping characters that cannot safely appear literally. Use it when the overall URL structure is already assembled and you need a displayable or request-ready representation.

Do not use full URL encoding as a substitute for encoding untrusted components. A user-provided ampersand or hash can still retain structural meaning in full URL mode. The safer construction pattern is to keep the base URL trusted, encode each variable component, and let a platform URL builder join parameters. On the web, URL and URLSearchParams handle many of these boundaries.

Percent escapes, Unicode, and plus signs

Percent encoding represents a byte as a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits. Unicode text is first represented as UTF-8 bytes, so a single visible character can produce several escapes. Decoding fails clearly when a percent sequence is incomplete or when the bytes do not form valid UTF-8. That error is useful evidence of truncation, double decoding, or a different character encoding upstream.

A plus sign is not a universal percent-encoding substitute for a space. It has that special meaning in application/x-www-form-urlencoded data and is commonly used by HTML forms and query parsers. Generic component decoding preserves literal +. If the source is form data, parse it with URLSearchParams; the query inspection mode does this and preserves repeated keys as arrays.

Inspect query parameters safely

Query inspection accepts either a complete URL, a leading question mark, or the query text alone. It removes the fragment, decodes form-style values, preserves empty values, and groups repeated names instead of silently keeping only the first or last value. The JSON view is useful when debugging filters, pagination, OAuth callbacks, webhook signatures, and links generated by another service.

The tool does not request or validate the destination. URLs can contain tokens, email addresses, internal hosts, and other sensitive data, so redact them before sharing output. For request conversion use cURL to Fetch; for response metadata use the HTTP Header Analyzer.