Paste text or a link and encode it so it is safe to put in a web address, or decode it to read what the percent signs mean. When the input is a link, the tool also splits it into protocol, host, path and each query parameter, with the decoded value next to the encoded one, and can add or remove a parameter and give you the rebuilt address. Everything happens in your browser.
A web address is made of parts separated by special characters: a slash divides the path, a question mark starts the query, an ampersand separates parameters and an equals sign joins a name to a value. If your data contains one of those characters, the browser or server cannot tell data from structure. Percent-encoding fixes that by writing the character as a code that has no special meaning.
That is why a search for 'cats & dogs' must be sent as cats%20%26%20dogs. Without the encoding, the ampersand would start a new parameter and the server would see a search for 'cats' plus a parameter named ' dogs'. Most frameworks encode for you, but when you build links by hand, in a spreadsheet, an email template or a redirect rule, you have to do it yourself.
When a link looks like a wall of percent codes, decoding it shows what it really says, and the parts table shows which parameter holds which value. This is the quickest way to find a return address inside a login link, a campaign tag inside a long tracking address, or a stray parameter that breaks a page.
Editing is just as common. You may need to remove a tracking parameter before sharing a link, or add one to test a page. Changing the link through the structured parts keeps the encoding correct, which is safer than editing the text by hand and getting a percent code wrong.
Web addresses may contain only a limited set of characters. Anything else, such as a space, an accented letter or an ampersand used as data, is replaced by a percent sign and two hexadecimal digits that give the byte. A space becomes %20, and the letter é becomes %C3%A9 because it takes two bytes in UTF-8.
Encoding a value escapes every character that has a special meaning in an address, including / ? & = # and :, so the result is safe inside a parameter. Encoding a whole address leaves those characters alone and escapes only spaces and non-ASCII characters, so a full link keeps working.
A percent sign must be followed by two hexadecimal digits, and the bytes must form valid UTF-8 text. Input such as %E0%A4%A is cut off, so it cannot be decoded. Check that the text was not truncated when it was copied.
In query strings, which are the part after the question mark, a plus sign stands for a space, an old rule from HTML forms. If you decode a path or a value that really contains a plus, untick the option and it will be kept.
No. Encoding, decoding and splitting the link all run in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Related: Base64 encoder and decoder, JSON formatter and validator, Redirect checker.
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