URL Encoder & Decoder

How to use this tool

1. Choose Encode or Decode.
2. Toggle "Whole URL" if you're encoding a complete URL rather than a single value.
3. Paste your text — the result updates live. Copy it with the copy button.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Don't use "Whole URL" mode on a single query parameter value — it won't escape the & and = characters you actually need escaped.

Why encode URLs in the browser?

This uses the browser's native encodeURIComponent/decodeURIComponent (andencodeURI/decodeURI for whole URLs) — the exact same functions any JavaScript developer would call in code, just with a UI around them, and nothing you paste in is sent to a server.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between the "component" and "whole URL" modes?

Component mode (the default) escapes everything, including characters like / and : — use it for a single value going into a query string, e.g. a search term. Whole-URL mode leaves URL-structural characters (:/?#) alone and only escapes the rest, for encoding a complete URL.

Why do spaces become %20 or +?

This tool always uses %20 (the modern, unambiguous standard) rather than +, which is a legacy convention specific to form submissions and can be misread as a literal plus sign elsewhere.

What causes a decode error?

A malformed percent sequence — e.g. a lone % not followed by two valid hex digits. Double-check the input was copied in full.

How GetByteRush compares

Most free tools for this online work the same way: you upload your file to their server, wait, then download the result — which means your file (and often your email, for a "free" account) sits on someone else's infrastructure. Here's the actual difference:

("Typical online tools" reflects publicly documented behavior of common free file-processing sites as of 2026 — always check a specific competitor's own privacy policy and pricing page, since these details change.)