Ever seen a URL with "%20" where a space should be, or weird codes scattered through a link? That's URL encoding — a necessary system for making URLs work reliably across the web.
Why URLs Can't Contain Certain Characters
URLs can only safely contain a limited set of characters (letters, numbers, and a few symbols). Characters like spaces, ampersands, question marks, and non-English letters have special meaning in a URL's structure or simply aren't allowed — so they need to be converted into a safe, encoded format to avoid breaking the link.
Common Encoded Characters
| Character | Encoded As |
|---|---|
| Space | %20 or + |
| & | %26 |
| ? | %3F |
| # | %23 |
| / | %2F |
| @ | %40 |
The "%" followed by two characters represents the character's hexadecimal code — this format is called "percent-encoding."
Encode or decode any URL instantly, right in your browser.
🔗 Try the Free URL Encoder/DecoderWhen You'll Run Into This
- Search queries in URLs: A search for "best pizza near me" becomes "best%20pizza%20near%20me" in the URL
- Sharing links with parameters: Building URLs that pass data (like an email address or search term) as part of the link
- Debugging broken links: A URL that looks fine but doesn't work might have an encoding issue
- Working with APIs: Many APIs require query parameters to be properly URL-encoded
Our free URL Encoder/Decoder instantly converts text both ways, so you never have to manually figure out percent-codes.