⌘ K
percent-decode · plus-as-space · utf-8 · live

Decode URL-encoded text

Convert percent-escaped URL strings back to readable UTF-8 text. Handles form bodies (+ becomes space) and works with emoji. All processing runs locally.

URL Decoder
Input
46 B
1 lines
Output
24 B
1 lines
Status
ready
live
Ratio
0.52×
out/in
input · url-encoded
output · text
hello world? &foo=bar 🚀
Quick Start

How to URL-decode

Reverses percent-encoding produced by encodeURIComponent or encodeURI. Also converts + to space, matching the form-body convention.

  1. 01

    Paste encoded URL

    Anything containing %XX escapes — full URL or just a query value.

    Bytes flow through TextEncoder/TextDecoder for predictable UTF-8 semantics — emoji, surrogate pairs, and combining marks all encode losslessly.

    inputUTF-8TextEncoderlosslesslive
    input · raw bytes%xx · UTF-8
    hello%20world
    loaded · UTF-8MIME · ready
  2. 02

    Plus handling

    + becomes a space — matches form-encoded bodies.

    Hash and signature operations call crypto.subtle from the Web Crypto API, so output matches OpenSSL / Node bit-for-bit.

    formWeb Cryptosubtledeterministiclive
    + · optionsspace · live
    hello+world → hello world
    options applied · livelive
  3. 03

    UTF-8 decode

    Multi-byte percent sequences become full Unicode characters.

    Options re-run instantly through useEffect + useMemo — switching URL-safe mode or padding doesn’t re-encode from scratch.

    livememoisedoptionsinstantreactive
    out · encodedutf-8 · ready
    %F0%9F%9A%80 → 🚀
    encoded · livelossless
  4. 04

    Copy or download

    One click to clipboard. Download as .txt.

    Copy uses the Async Clipboard API; downloads ship via Blob with the appropriate MIME (text/plain, image/png, …) so external tools recognise them.

    exportclipboardblobMIME-correctclient-side
    ok · copiedready · done
    Copied
    shipped · ready to shipsuccess
Pro tips

Encoding without surprises

Always UTF-8 first

Use TextEncoder / TextDecoder for bytes ↔ string conversion. btoa alone breaks on non-ASCII.

URL-safe vs standard Base64

Standard uses +, /, =; URL-safe swaps to -, _, no padding. Don’t mix them.

Hashes aren’t passwords

SHA-256 is fast; that’s good for fingerprints, bad for passwords. Use bcrypt / argon2 for credentials.

Watch padding rules

Some decoders are strict about = padding, others auto-pad. If round-trips fail at exactly 1 or 2 bytes, check padding.

Use Web Crypto for keys

Generate cryptographic keys via crypto.subtle, never Math.random. The latter is predictable.

JWT decode ≠ verify

Decoding a JWT just splits and base64-decodes. Verification needs the issuer’s public key / shared secret.

Related toolsURL EncoderBase64 DecoderHTML DecoderPunycode ConverterUnicode ConverterQuoted-Printable
Use Cases

When to URL-decode

Log parsing, OAuth debugging, form-body inspection.

Server logs

Decode query strings to read what users actually requested. Output round-trips losslessly with the matching decoder — both run client-side, so end-to-end testing happens in a single tab. Encoding flows through TextEncoder for predictable UTF-8 semantics.

RFC-compliant

OAuth state

Inspect nested return_to URLs in auth flows. Web Crypto's subtle.digest produces output that matches OpenSSL, GPG, and Node's crypto module byte-for-byte. That makes the result trustworthy as a content fingerprint, ETag, or integrity check.

OpenSSL-matched

Form bodies

Decode application/x-www-form-urlencoded payloads. Pairs cleanly with HMAC, JWT, and signed-URL workflows where bit-level correctness matters. The browser's crypto stack is FIPS 140-validated in Chrome and Firefox, so it's production-grade.

lossless

Webhook payloads

Read raw redirect query strings. Output uses canonical RFC 4648 / 7515 alphabets so curl, openssl, and any standards-compliant decoder accept it as input. URL-safe variants drop padding for tokens that travel in query strings.

byte-identical

Deep links

Unwrap nested mobile deep-link URLs. Heavy hashing runs through useMemo so large inputs don't block typing. PBKDF2, bcrypt, and Argon2 expose configurable cost factors — tune for your threat model, not the default.

spec-grade

Email tracking

See behind utm_* and tracker-wrapped links. Same input plus same options always yields identical bytes. That's the foundation for content-addressed storage (IPFS, Git, S3 ETags) and means the output is safe to commit to fixtures.

production-ready
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Form bodies (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) encode space as +. We follow that convention so form payloads decode correctly. For pure URL strings, + stays unchanged because no encoder produces it.
If a %XX is incomplete or invalid, you get an error explaining where. Fix the input or pre-strip the bad sequences.
Yes — multi-byte sequences (%C3%A9 → é, %F0%9F%9A%80 → 🚀) are decoded as full Unicode.
Plain text passes through unchanged — decoding is a no-op for strings with no % escapes.
No. Decoding runs locally in your browser.
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