URL Decode Online — Decode Percent-Encoded Strings Instantly
encodeURIComponent · encodeURI · RFC 3986 — Query Params Table · URL Builder · Batch Mode — 100% browser-side
Paste text → get encoded URL
Real-time · 200ms debounce · No button click needed
Decode URL-encoded strings back to readable text instantly. Paste any percent-encoded URL or string — %20 becomes space, %26 becomes &, %2F becomes /. Auto-detect mode automatically switches to decode when it sees encoded input. 100% browser-side.
What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (percent encoding) converts special characters into a % followed by two hex digits. For example, a space becomes %20, & becomes %26, and / becomes %2F. This ensures URLs remain valid across all browsers, servers, and APIs regardless of the special characters they contain.
encodeURIComponent vs encodeURI vs RFC 3986
encodeURIComponent is the safest choice for encoding individual query parameter values — it encodes everything except A-Z a-z 0-9 - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ). encodeURI is designed for full URLs and preserves characters like : / ? # [ ] . RFC 3986 is the strictest standard — also encoding ! ' ( ) * — recommended for OAuth signatures and API authentication headers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I decode a URL?
Paste the encoded URL into the input. The tool automatically decodes %20 back to space, %26 to &, %2F to /, and all other percent-encoded characters.
What does %20 mean in a URL?
%20 is the URL encoding for a space character. When a URL contains a space, it must be encoded as %20 to be valid. Decoding converts it back to a space.
What is the difference between %20 and + in URLs?
%20 is standard percent encoding for space used in paths and modern APIs. + is used for space in HTML form data (query strings). Both decode to a space.
Can I decode multiple URLs at once?
Yes — switch to Batch Mode. Paste one URL per line and all will be decoded simultaneously. Download results as a .txt file.
What if decoding fails?
An error is shown inline if the input is invalid. Common causes: incomplete % sequences, invalid hex characters after %, or double-encoded strings. Try decoding once more.