⭐ Starlight Tools / URL Encoder/Decoder

URL Encoder/Decoder

Easily encode special characters for URLs or decode encoded URLs.

Result:

Understanding URL Encoding and Decoding

URL encoding (also known as Percent-encoding) is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) under certain circumstances. It is used when a character that is not allowed in a URL (e.g., spaces, special symbols) needs to be part of the URL.

Why is URL Encoding Used?

  • Handling Special Characters: URLs can only contain a specific set of characters. Characters like spaces, `&`, `=`, `?`, `/`, `.` (when not part of a domain), etc., have special meanings in a URL structure. To include these characters literally, they must be encoded.
  • Preventing Malformed URLs: Encoding ensures that the URL is well-formed and can be correctly interpreted by web browsers and servers.
  • Data Integrity: When passing data as part of a URL (e.g., in query parameters), encoding ensures that the data is transmitted accurately without being misinterpreted.

How Encoding Works:

When a character is URL encoded, it is typically converted into a percent sign (`%`) followed by its two-digit hexadecimal representation. For example:

  • A space character (` `) becomes `%20`.
  • An ampersand (`&`) becomes `%26`.
  • A question mark (`?`) becomes `%3F`.

How This Tool Works

This URL Encoder/Decoder operates entirely client-side within your browser. No data is sent to a server, ensuring your privacy. It leverages JavaScript's built-in functions:

  • `encodeURIComponent()`: Used for encoding a URI component. This function escapes all characters except: A-Z a-z 0-9 - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) . This is generally preferred for encoding individual URL parameters.
  • `decodeURIComponent()`: Used for decoding a URI component previously encoded by `encodeURIComponent()`.

For full URL encoding/decoding, the tool uses these functions to process the entire input, making it suitable for both full URLs and individual strings.