URL Encoder — Percent-Encode Query Values, Paths and Full URLs

How to use the URL encoder

1. Paste your text into Text or URL to encode.
2. Choose Encode as: Component (a query value or path segment), Full URL (keeps : / ? # & =), or Form data (spaces as +).
3. Tick Encode each line separately to encode a list of values in one go.
4. Copy the Encoded result into your link, code or request.

What it does and when to use it

The punctuation in a URL has jobs to do. A ? starts the query, & separates parameters, = joins a name to its value, # starts the fragment and / separates folders. When those characters appear inside your data, they must be encoded, or the URL will be read wrongly. Spaces and non-English letters are not allowed in a URL at all, so they must be encoded too.

Use the encoder to:

• Build a search or tracking link whose values contain spaces, & or accented letters.
• Pass one URL inside another, for example a return address in a login or redirect link.
• Prepare form data for an API that expects application/x-www-form-urlencoded.
• Check what a library or browser will produce before you debug a broken link.

To read an encoded link, use the URL Decoder. For binary data or longer text in a URL, Base64URL is often a better fit. To build campaign links with UTM parameters encoded for you, try the UTM Builder.

How it works

The text is converted to UTF-8 bytes. Each byte that is not allowed to appear as-is is written as % followed by its value in hex. Which characters are left alone depends on the option:

• Component leaves only letters, digits and - _ . ! ~ * ’ ( ) as they are, just like JavaScript’s encodeURIComponent.
• Full URL also keeps the structural characters : / ? # & = and a few others, like encodeURI.
• Form data works like Component, but writes spaces as +, as HTML forms do.

Everything runs in your browser.

Worked examples

A value full of reserved characters. “a b&c=d/é” as a component becomes a%20b%26c%3Dd%2F%C3%A9. The space, &, =, / and é are all encoded, so the value can sit safely after = in a query string.

Tidying a full URL. “https://example.com/a b?x=1&y=é” with Full URL becomes https://example.com/a%20b?x=1&y=%C3%A9. The structure stays, and only the space and é change.

Form data. “fish & chips” with Form data becomes fish+%26+chips.

A percent sign. “50% off!” becomes 50%25%20off!, because % itself must be encoded as %25.

Limits and tips

• Encode each value on its own, then join them with & and =. Encoding a whole finished URL as a component turns its structure into data.
• Do not encode twice. Running already-encoded text through the encoder turns %20 into %2520.
• Domain names with non-Latin letters use a different system called Punycode, not percent-encoding.