URL Encoder
Make any text safe to put in a URL. Pick the encoding mode that fits where the value is going and the result updates as you type.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Free to use
How to use URL Encoder
- Type or paste the text or URL you want to encode.
- Choose a mode: Component for a single parameter value, Full URL to keep the URL structure, or Form for application/x-www-form-urlencoded data.
- Tick Encode each line separately if you have a list of values.
- Copy the encoded output.
URL Encoder features
Three encoding modes
Component encoding, whole-URL encoding and HTML form encoding, each matching a real use.
Live output
The result updates on every keystroke.
Line-by-line option
Encode a list of values without the line breaks becoming %0A.
Full Unicode support
Non-ASCII characters are encoded as UTF-8 byte sequences, as the URL standard requires.
Local only
Nothing you type leaves the browser.
When to use URL Encoder
- Adding a search term or redirect URL as a query parameter.
- Building API request URLs by hand for testing.
- Encoding a filename with spaces for a download link.
- Preparing form-encoded request bodies for curl or Postman.
URL Encoder FAQ
Which mode should I use?
Use Component when encoding a single value that goes inside a URL, such as a query parameter. Use Full URL when you have a complete address and only want unsafe characters such as spaces fixed. Use Form when building a body for an HTML form post.
Why are : / ? and & left alone in Full URL mode?
Those characters give a URL its structure. Full URL mode preserves them so the address still works. If such a character is part of a value rather than structure, encode that value separately in Component mode.
Should a space be %20 or +?
%20 is correct everywhere in a URL. The plus sign means a space only in form-encoded data, typically the query string of a form submission. Component mode produces %20; Form mode produces +.
Why does one character become several %XX groups?
Characters outside ASCII are first converted to UTF-8 bytes and each byte is written as a percent sign and two hexadecimal digits. é becomes %C3%A9 and an emoji becomes four groups.
Is encoding the same as encryption?
No. Percent-encoding only makes characters safe for transport. Anyone can decode it.
What percent-encoding is for
A URL may contain only a limited set of characters, and several of them have reserved meanings: the question mark starts the query string, the ampersand separates parameters, the hash starts the fragment. When data contains those characters, or spaces, or anything outside ASCII, it has to be escaped so that it is not mistaken for part of the URL's structure.
Percent-encoding replaces each unsafe byte with a percent sign followed by its two-digit hexadecimal value. The key decision is scope. Encoding an entire URL as if it were a single value would also escape the slashes and colons that make it a URL, while failing to encode an ampersand inside a parameter value would split that value in two. That is why this tool separates component and full-URL modes.