URL Encode

Encoding text safely for URLs

Web addresses can only contain a limited set of characters. Spaces, ampersands, question marks, hash signs, slashes and non-English letters all have special meanings or are not allowed in certain parts of a URL. Percent-encoding replaces them with codes such as %20 for a space, so the browser and server read the address exactly as you intended. Without it, a search term containing an ampersand can silently split into two parameters.

This tool offers two modes. Component mode encodes every character that has a special meaning, which is what you want for a single query parameter value, such as a search phrase or a redirect address passed inside another link. Full-URL mode leaves the structure of the address alone, keeping characters such as the colon, slashes and question mark, and only encodes characters that are not allowed at all. Using the wrong mode is a common cause of broken links.

Spaces deserve a special note. In most of a URL a space becomes %20, but in form submissions it is often written as a plus sign. Both are widely understood in query strings, but %20 is the safer choice when you are unsure. Avoid encoding a value twice, which turns %20 into %2520 and causes confusing errors further along. When building links in code, use your language's built-in encoding functions rather than replacing characters by hand. Non-English text is encoded as UTF-8 bytes, which keeps Hindi, Tamil and other scripts intact across browsers and servers. Everything runs locally in your browser, so private parameters and tracking codes are not shared.