Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the URL Encoder / Decoder.
How does the URL encoder/decoder work?
Paste text in the Plain text field to percent-encode it for use in a URL, or paste a percent-encoded string in the right field to decode it back to readable text. Either field updates the other instantly as you type — no button needed.
Is it free?
Completely free. No sign-up, no downloads, no rate limits, and no limits on input length.
What is URL encoding?
Also called percent-encoding, it replaces characters that aren't safe in a URL with a % followed by their two-digit hexadecimal code — for example, a space becomes %20 and & becomes %26. This ensures data travels safely in a web address without being misread as URL syntax.
What's the difference between component and full-URL mode?
Component mode (encodeURIComponent / decodeURIComponent) encodes everything including &, =, ?, /, :, and #, which suits individual query-parameter values and path segments. Full-URL mode (encodeURI / decodeURI) leaves URL-structure characters intact so you can encode a whole address without breaking its scheme, host, and path separators.
Which mode should I use?
Use component mode when encoding a single value that will go inside a query string or path segment — for example a search term, a token, or a file name. Use full-URL mode when encoding an entire URL and you want to keep its structure (scheme://, slashes, ? and = separators) intact.
Does it handle emoji and accented characters?
Yes. encodeURIComponent and encodeURI both encode characters to their UTF-8 byte representations, so emoji, accented letters, and non-Latin scripts all round-trip correctly through percent-encoding.
Why am I getting a decode error?
The input contains invalid percent-encoding — most often a stray % not followed by exactly two hex digits (0–9, A–F), or a truncated multi-byte sequence. The tool catches these and shows a specific error message rather than producing garbled text or throwing an exception.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. All encoding and decoding runs locally in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to any server, so sensitive values like tokens, API keys, and query parameters stay on your device.
Is my data stored?
No. The tool does not store, log, or retain any input. When you close or refresh the page, everything is gone.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. The layout is fully responsive. On small screens the two fields and the mode toggle stack vertically with no overflow, so you can encode and decode URLs on any device.