URL Decoder
Turn an encoded URL or query string back into readable text. Paste anything with %20, %3D or similar escapes and see the decoded result instantly.
Free · No sign-up · Files stay on your device
How to use URL Decode
- 1Paste the encoded URL or text.
- 2Tick "Treat + as space" for form data if needed.
- 3Copy the decoded result.
Features
- Full UTF-8 support, including emoji
- Component or full-URL mode
- Handles + as space for form data
- Instant results as you type
- Runs entirely in your browser
What is URL encoding?
URLs can only contain a limited set of characters. URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) replaces every other character with a % followed by its hexadecimal byte value, so a space becomes %20 and "é" becomes %C3%A9.
Component vs. full URL encoding
Encode a single value (component) when you are putting text inside a query parameter. This also encodes characters like &, = and /. Encode a full URL when you want to keep the URL structure (://, /, ?, &) intact and only escape spaces and unsafe characters.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a space become %20?
Spaces are not allowed in URLs. %20 is the percent-encoded form of the space character (byte 0x20).
What is the difference between %20 and +?
Both can represent a space. + is only used in HTML form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded); %20 works everywhere in a URL.
Why do I get a decoding error?
The input contains a % that is not followed by two valid hex digits, or a byte sequence that is not valid UTF-8.