URL Encoder
URL encode text for safe use in web addresses. Free online percent-encoding tool.
URL Encoding Reference Table
Below is a complete reference of reserved and common unreserved characters, along with their percent-encoded values.
| Character | Encoding | Name |
|---|---|---|
(space) | %20 | Space |
! | %21 | Exclamation mark |
" | %22 | Double quote |
# | %23 | Number sign / Hash |
$ | %24 | Dollar sign |
% | %25 | Percent sign |
& | %26 | Ampersand |
' | %27 | Single quote |
( | %28 | Left parenthesis |
) | %29 | Right parenthesis |
* | %2A | Asterisk |
+ | %2B | Plus sign |
, | %2C | Comma |
/ | %2F | Forward slash |
: | %3A | Colon |
; | %3B | Semicolon |
= | %3D | Equals sign |
? | %3F | Question mark |
@ | %40 | At sign |
[ | %5B | Left square bracket |
] | %5D | Right square bracket |
é | %C3%A9 | e with acute accent |
à | %C3%A0 | a with grave accent |
ç | %C3%A7 | c with cedilla |
encodeURIComponent vs encodeURI
In JavaScript, developers often wonder whether to use encodeURI() or encodeURIComponent(). Here is the difference:
encodeURI()is used to encode a complete URL. It ignores protocol prefix, domain name, and path characters like:,/,?,&.encodeURIComponent()is used to encode a component of a URL (like a query string parameter). It encodes everything, including/,?,=, and&.
// Example of encodeURI
const fullUrl = "https://example.com/search page?query=hello world";
console.log(encodeURI(fullUrl));
// Output: https://example.com/search%20page?query=hello%20world
// Example of encodeURIComponent
const param = "hello & world";
const baseUrl = "https://example.com/?query=";
console.log(baseUrl + encodeURIComponent(param));
// Output: https://example.com/?query=hello%20%26%20worldReserved vs Unreserved Characters (RFC 3986)
According to RFC 3986, characters in URLs are divided into two main categories:
- Reserved characters: Characters that sometimes have special meaning (e.g.,
: / ? # [ ] @ ! $ & ' ( ) * + , ; =). They must be percent-encoded if they are used as data rather than delimiters. - Unreserved characters: Characters that have no special meaning in a URL context (e.g., uppercase and lowercase letters, decimal digits, hyphen, period, underscore, and tilde). These do not need to be encoded.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I escape a space in a URL?
To escape a space in a URL, you replace it with the percent-encoded value %20. In some specific contexts like application/x-www-form-urlencoded data, a space can also be represented as a plus sign (+).
What is %20 in a URL?
%20 is the percent-encoded representation of a space character. Because spaces are not allowed in URLs, they must be converted to %20 so web browsers and servers can process the address correctly.
What characters are not allowed in URLs?
Characters like spaces, quotation marks ("), angle brackets (<, >), backslashes (\), carets (^), backticks (`), curly braces ({, }), and vertical bars (|) are inherently unsafe or reserved and must be percent-encoded to be included in a URL.
What is percent encoding?
Percent-encoding (also known as URL encoding) is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). It converts unsafe or reserved characters into a percentage sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits that represent the character's ASCII or UTF-8 value.
Should I use encodeURI or encodeURIComponent?
Use encodeURI() when you need to encode a full, complete URL without breaking its structure. Use encodeURIComponent() when you are encoding a specific piece of data, such as a query string parameter, to ensure characters like = or & don't break the URL format.
Related Tools
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