URL Decoder

Decode percent-encoded URLs and text back to readable format. Our smart detector identifies the encoding automatically. No uploads, no storage, no tracking.

Decode URL or Text
Smart format detection enabled
Input (Encoded) 0 chars
Output (Decoded) 0 chars
Decoded output will appear here…
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Why Use Our URL Decoder?

  • Smart Auto-Detection: Not familiar with format? No problem. Intelligent detector automatically detects the encoding type.
  • 100% Private & Secure: No decoding occurs on a server, and all decoding is done on your browser. Your information never leaves your gadget or is stored.
  • Instant Results: Get decoded text in milliseconds. No waiting, no loading screens, and no server roundtrips.
  • Handles Complex URLs: Easily decode query parameters, API URLs, international characters and more.
  • Two Decoding Modes: You can now use component mode for query params, or full URL mode to decode whole URLs with domain.
  • Error Handling: Decoding failure error message should be displayed. Understand why something has gone wrong and how to correct it.

How to Decode URLs

  1. Paste Your Encoded Text: Paste the percent encoded URL or text into the text box on the left.
  2. Auto-Detection (Recommended): If the format selector is left at “Auto” our smart detector will find the encoding automatically.
  3. Click Decode: Press the “Decode” button or set “Auto-decode on paste” to get the results immediately after pasting.
  4. Get Your Plain Text: The un-decoded text is displayed immediately. One click to copy or use it in your application.

Decoding Examples

Component Decoding
Hello%20World%21		Hello World!
Full URL Decoding
https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fpage%3Fid%3D123		https://example.com/page?id=123
Query String
name%3Dtest%26value%3D1%2B2		name=test&value=1+2
Unicode Characters
%E4%BD%A0%E5%A5%BD%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C		你好世界

What is URL Decoding?

URL decoding is the opposite of URL encoding. It decodes percents encoded characters back to their original form. This is critical in the case of URLs, query parameters or any data that was encoded for safe web transmission.

When Do You Need URL Decoding?

URL decoding is often required in the following situations:

  • API Development: Decode URL Encoded data from API responses and Querystring.
  • Web Scraping: Decode a URL that’s been extracted from a webpage.
  • Debugging: View the decoded version of URL data in browser developer tools.
  • SEO Analysis: Decode URLs with special characters.
  • Email Links: Decode mailto links with encoded parameters.
  • Data Processing: Decode Data in URL encoded data format

Understanding URL Encoding Format

Percent-encoding (or URI encoding) is used to encode an URL. The characters are percent-encoded, with a percent sign (%) followed by two hex digits corresponding to the ASCII value for the character.

For example: Space becomes %20, ampersand (&) becomes %26, and the percent sign (%) itself becomes %25.

Component vs Full URL Decoding

  • Component Decoding: DecodeURIComponent() and decodes characters that would otherwise violate URL syntax. For decoding individual URL components such as query parameter values.
  • Full URL Decoding: decodes whole URL with decodeURI(), leaving URL structure characters intact. Use this for decoding a full URL.

Common Decoding Errors

If decoding doesn’t work, look for the following common problems:

  • Invalid percent encoding: Make sure that % must be followed by exactly two hex digits
  • Wrong decode mode: Use component decode for params, full URL decode for complete URLs
  • Multiple encoding: There might be multiple coding of some strings

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