What is percent-encoding?

Percent-encoding (also called URL encoding) replaces characters that are not allowed or have special meaning in URLs with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the character's UTF-8 byte value. For example, a space becomes %20 and a forward slash becomes %2F.

What is the difference between Full URL and Query Component mode?

In Full URL mode the tool uses decodeURI(), which leaves characters like /, ?, #, and & intact because they are valid URL delimiters. In Query Component mode it uses decodeURIComponent(), which also decodes those delimiter characters — useful when decoding a single query-string value that was encoded with encodeURIComponent().

Does this tool handle + as a space?

In Query Component mode, + signs are converted to spaces before decoding, matching the application/x-www-form-urlencoded convention used by HTML forms and many query strings. In Full URL mode, + is left as-is since it is a valid URL character.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All decoding happens entirely in your browser using built-in JavaScript functions. Nothing you paste is transmitted anywhere.

What character encodings are supported?

The tool decodes UTF-8 percent-encoded sequences, which is the encoding required by RFC 3986 and used by all modern browsers and web frameworks.

URL Decoder

Paste any percent-encoded URL or query string and instantly see the decoded, human-readable version.

Encoded Input

Mode

Decoded Output

Copied!

Summary

URL Decoder converts percent-encoded URL strings back into human-readable text. When URLs are transmitted over the internet, special characters are replaced with a % sign followed by two hex digits — for example, a space becomes %20 and an ampersand becomes %26. This tool reverses that process using the standard decodeURIComponent algorithm, letting you quickly inspect query parameters, API responses, or any encoded URL fragment.

How it works

Paste your percent-encoded URL or query string into the input field.
The decoded output appears instantly below as you type.
Switch the decode mode between Full URL and Query Component to control how + signs are treated.
Click Copy to copy the decoded result to your clipboard.
Use the Clear button to reset both fields and start over.

Use cases

Inspect query parameters in analytics or ad tracking URLs.
Decode API response URLs that contain encoded path segments.
Read encoded redirect_uri values in OAuth flows.
Debug percent-encoded webhook payloads or log entries.
Understand encoded filenames returned by a file server.
Verify that a URL encoder produced the correct output.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-05-23 · Reviewed by Nham Vu