URL Decoder — Free Online URL Decoding Tool | GadgetSurge

About URL Decoder

Percent-encoded URLs replace special characters with %XX sequences, making them unreadable at a glance. This URL decoder reverses the process, converting %20 back to spaces, %26 back to ampersands, and all other encoded sequences back to their original characters.

URL decoding is essential when debugging web applications, reading API request logs, inspecting redirect chains, and understanding complex query strings. Encoded URLs in browser network tabs, server logs, and error messages become immediately readable after decoding.

The decoder handles both standard percent encoding and the + sign as a space (used in HTML form submissions). It correctly decodes UTF-8 encoded multi-byte sequences for international characters.

How to Use URL Decoder

1. Paste the percent-encoded URL or URL component into the input field.
2. Click "Decode" to convert %XX sequences back to their original characters.
3. Copy the decoded output for reading or editing.
4. Use the companion URL Encoder to re-encode if needed.

Common Use Cases

• Debugging API requests: Decode logged API request URLs to read the actual parameter values being sent.
• Reading redirect chains: Decode redirect URLs in browser network tabs or server logs to understand where requests are being directed.
• Analysing form submissions: Decode application/x-www-form-urlencoded form data to read the values submitted in POST requests.
• Reading complex query strings: Decode multi-parameter query strings from analytics tools, ad platforms, and tracking URLs to understand the parameters.
• International URL inspection: Decode URLs containing international characters to read the original non-ASCII text.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is URL decoding?

URL decoding reverses percent encoding, converting %XX sequences back to the original characters. %20 becomes a space, %26 becomes &, %3D becomes =, and so on. It is the inverse operation of URL encoding.

What does %20 mean?

%20 is the percent-encoded representation of a space character. The 20 is the hexadecimal ASCII code for space (32 in decimal). You will see %20 in URLs wherever a space would appear in the unencoded text.

Why does + decode to a space?

In HTML form data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded format), a + sign represents a space. This is a legacy convention from early web forms. This decoder handles both %20 and + as spaces, depending on context.

What if my URL contains multiple encoding layers?

Sometimes URLs are double-encoded — a % sign is itself encoded as %25, producing sequences like %2520 for an originally encoded space. Run the decoder twice on double-encoded URLs to fully decode them.

Is decoding URLs safe?

Decoding is a read-only transformation — it does not execute anything or affect any system. It is completely safe to decode any URL to inspect its contents.