Paste the encoded URL
A whole link, a query string or just a fragment full of % codes.
URL decoder (percent-decoding)
Paste a link or text full of %20, %C3%A9 and similar codes and read it as normal text. It decodes as you type and nothing leaves your browser.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Runs in your browser
100% private — your text is processed in your browser and never sent to any server.
Next step
Keep going with your result in another tool. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works
Read the decoded text
Spaces, accents and symbols come back at once.
Copy the result
Copy it, or switch to Encode to go the other way.
How to decode a URL
To decode a URL, paste it in the input box with Decode selected. Every percent code is turned back into its character: %20 becomes a space and %C3%BC becomes ü. For example, https://example.com/search?q=%C3%BCber%20%26%20na%C3%AFve decodes to https://example.com/search?q=über & naïve. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
What a percent code is
A percent code is a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits, and stands for one byte. Accented letters and emoji take several bytes, so they appear as a run of codes: ü is %C3%BC and € is %E2%82%AC. Decoding reads those bytes back as UTF-8 text.
Codes you will see most
| Character | As a value (component) | In a whole address |
|---|---|---|
| space | %20 | %20 |
| & | %26 | & |
| = | %3D | = |
| ? | %3F | ? |
| / | %2F | / |
| # | %23 | # |
| + | %2B | + |
| % | %25 | %25 |
| ü | %C3%BC | %C3%BC |
| ç | %C3%A7 | %C3%A7 |
| € | %E2%82%AC | %E2%82%AC |
| @ | %40 | @ |
Why decoding can fail
- A lone percent sign. A % that is not followed by two hexadecimal digits is not valid and the tool tells you.
- Text that was not UTF-8. Very old systems encode accents as Latin-1, so ü appears as %FC and does not decode as UTF-8.
- Double encoding. If you still see %25 or %20 after decoding, the text was encoded twice; decode it a second time.
Where you meet encoded URLs
Encoded links appear in analytics reports, server logs, redirect chains, email tracking links and copied search-result addresses. Decoding them makes it possible to see the real search terms, file names and campaign parameters hidden behind the codes.
Private by design
The conversion runs in your browser. What you type, paste or drop is never uploaded, which matters when the text holds tokens, personal data or internal files.
More developer and text tools
Frequently asked questions
Why does my link contain %20?
%20 is how a space is written inside a URL, because spaces are not allowed. Browsers show it decoded in the address bar, but the underlying link contains the code.
How do I decode a URL that was encoded twice?
Decode it once, and if you still see codes such as %25 or %20, paste the result in again and decode a second time.
Is decoding a URL safe?
Decoding only changes how the text is written, it does not open the link. It runs in your browser, so the address is not sent anywhere.
Is this converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no limit, and it runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to a server.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It works in any modern mobile browser, and the result updates as you type.
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