URL Decoder

Paste a percent-encoded URL or string to decode it as you type. See every %XX sequence, catch double encoding, and break the query string into parameters.

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

DecodeEncode

Scope

Try

Encoded input126 chars · 126 bytes

Decoded output

https://shop.example.com/search?q=café au lait&tags=coffee,paris&next=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.example.com%2Fcart

107 chars · 108 bytesCtrl + Enter copies output

The result still contains percent-encoded sequences such as %3A %2F. The input was probably encoded more than once.

Each encoded run is split into characters. Multi-byte UTF-8 sequences are grouped, so %C3%A9 shows as one character.

https://shop.example.com/search?q=café%C3%A9U+00E9␠%20U+0020au␠%20U+0020lait&tags=coffee,%2CU+002Cparis&next=https%%25U+00253A%%25U+00252F%%25U+00252Fshop.example.com%%25U+00252Fcart

Share links keep your text after the #, which browsers never send to a server.

What URL decoding does

URL decoding (percent-decoding) turns each %XX sequence back into the byte it stands for, then reads those bytes as UTF-8 text. %20 becomes a space, %2F becomes /, and the two bytes %C3%A9 become é.

A plus sign means a space only in form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded). Everywhere else it is a literal +, which is why the Scope setting matters. To go the other way, use the URL Encoder.

Pick the right scope

Component

One value: a query parameter, a path segment, a token. Matches encodeURIComponent.

Full URL

A whole address. Keeps : / ? # & = intact. Matches encodeURI.

Form data

HTML form submissions and most query strings, where + means a space.

Common percent-encoded characters

Full percent-encoding table

Character	Encoded	encodeURIComponent	encodeURI	Why it matters
space	%20	Encodes	Encodes	Form data may use + instead
"	%22	Encodes	Encodes	Breaks HTML attributes if left raw
#	%23	Encodes	Keeps	Starts the fragment; cuts a value short
%	%25	Encodes	Encodes	Seeing %25 often means double encoding
&	%26	Encodes	Keeps	Separates query parameters
+	%2B	Encodes	Keeps	Read as a space in form data
,	%2C	Encodes	Keeps	Sub-delimiter; often safe in values
/	%2F	Encodes	Keeps	Path separator; some servers reject %2F
:	%3A	Encodes	Keeps	Separates scheme and port
=	%3D	Encodes	Keeps	Separates a key from its value
?	%3F	Encodes	Keeps	Starts the query string
@	%40	Encodes	Keeps	Separates user info from the host

Decode a URL in code

decodeURIComponent("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait");
// "café au lait"

// Query strings: URLSearchParams also turns + into a space
new URLSearchParams("q=caf%C3%A9+au+lait").get("q");

decodeURIComponent throws URIError on a stray % or invalid UTF-8.

from urllib.parse import unquote, unquote_plus

unquote("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait")      # 'café au lait'
unquote_plus("caf%C3%A9+au+lait")      # + becomes a space

unquote leaves + alone; unquote_plus is for form data.

import java.net.URLDecoder;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;

URLDecoder.decode("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
// "café au lait"

URLDecoder follows form rules, so it also turns + into a space. The Charset overload needs Java 10+.

rawurldecode("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait");  // "café au lait"
urldecode("caf%C3%A9+au+lait");          // + becomes a space

rawurldecode leaves + alone; urldecode is for form data.

import "net/url"

s, err := url.PathUnescape("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait")
// s == "café au lait"
q, err := url.QueryUnescape("caf%C3%A9+au+lait") // + becomes a space

Both return an error for malformed escapes instead of panicking.

using System;

Uri.UnescapeDataString("caf%C3%A9%20au%20lait");
// "café au lait"

UnescapeDataString leaves + alone; WebUtility.UrlDecode treats it as a space.

When decoding goes wrong

%2520

Double-encoded URLs

Why % turns into %25 and how to fix it at the source.

URIError

“URI malformed”

Stray % signs and non-UTF-8 bytes in decodeURIComponent.

+ → space

Plus signs disappearing

Form encoding versus path encoding, explained.

Ã©

Garbled characters

UTF-8 bytes read as Latin-1, and how to tell.

Questions

Should a space be %20 or +?

Both appear, in different places. %20 is valid anywhere in a URL. + means a space only in application/x-www-form-urlencoded data, such as HTML form submissions and many query strings. In a path, + is a literal plus sign. Choose the Form data scope to decode + as a space.

Why does my URL contain %2520?

It was encoded twice. The first pass turned a space into %20; the second pass encoded the % sign itself as %25. Decode it twice to read it (the tool offers this automatically), then fix the code that encodes an already-encoded value.

What is the difference between decodeURI and decodeURIComponent?

decodeURIComponent decodes every escape sequence. decodeURI is meant for whole URLs and leaves escapes for reserved characters such as %2F, %3F, %26 and %23 untouched, so the decoded URL keeps its structure. The Component and Full URL scopes match the two functions.

Why do I get “URI malformed”?

decodeURIComponent throws this when a % is not followed by two hex digits, or when the decoded bytes are not valid UTF-8, for example %E9 produced from Latin-1 text. This tool shows the exact position, and Lenient mode decodes everything else while leaving the bad sequence as it is.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. Decoding and encoding run in your browser with JavaScript. Nothing you paste is uploaded or logged, files you open are read locally, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

Behaviour checked against RFC 3986, the WHATWG URL Standard and MDN. Updated October 3, 2026

URL Encoder

Percent-encode a value, a full URL or form data, with strict RFC 3986 and +/%20 options.

URL Parser

Split a URL into scheme, host, port, path, query and fragment, with checks for common problems.

Query String Parser

Edit query parameters as a table, rebuild the string, or export it as JSON.

Base64 Encode/Decode

Convert text to Base64 and back, including the URL-safe Base64URL alphabet.

HTML Encode/Decode

Escape text to HTML entities and decode entities back to text.

JWT Decoder

Read a JSON Web Token's header and payload and check its expiry.