URL Decoder

Paste a URL-encoded value and click Run to decode. + is treated as a space (form-style). Stray % characters without two hex digits will error.

  • Runs entirely in your browser
  • No data stored or sent to a server
  • Free forever — no signup
  • Instant conversion

Input and Output

Use the interactive encoder and decoder on this page to process your text.

Learn more about URL decoding

How to Decode URL-Encoded (%XX) Strings

URL Decoding

When to URL-Decode

Decode percent-encoded strings when reading query parameters from logs, debugging redirect chains, parsing copied URLs, or inspecting API request payloads.

Real-World Examples

hello%20world → hello world

q=c%2B%2B%20tutorial → c++ tutorial

redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com → readable URL for inspection

Common Mistakes

  • Decoding an entire URL and breaking its structure
  • Decoding twice — produces corrupted output the second time
  • Assuming + always means space (depends on context)

Edge Cases

  • Malformed sequences like %GG cause decode errors
  • Partial strings copied from browser bars may include fragments or hash values
  • Multi-byte UTF-8 characters decode from multiple %XX groups

Developer Tips

  • JavaScript: decodeURIComponent()
  • Log both encoded and decoded values when debugging OAuth redirect issues

Frequently asked questions

Why do I get URI malformed errors?

The input likely contains incomplete percent sequences, stray % characters, or was decoded already.

Does + decode to a space?

In application/x-www-form-urlencoded query strings, + often represents a space. decodeURIComponent treats + literally unless you replace + with spaces first.

Can I decode a full URL safely?

Decode individual components (query values, path segments) rather than the entire URL string at once.