CleanThisText guide
URL encoding explained
Encode one URL component, avoid double encoding, and understand plus signs in query values.
Encode one value, not a complete address
URL Encoder applies encodeURIComponent. Use it for one query value or path segment. Encoding an entire URL also encodes structural separators such as its colon and slashes, changing how the address can be interpreted.
For the search term coffee & tea, encoding the ampersand prevents it from being treated as a parameter separator. Keep the URL structure separate and put only the encoded term after the parameter's equals sign.
Decode according to the source format
URL Decoder applies decodeURIComponent and reports malformed percent escapes such as %ZZ. It does not turn a literal plus into a space: that convention belongs to form-style encoding, not every URL component.
a%2Bb decodes to a+b. If the source is application/x-www-form-urlencoded data, use a proper query or form parser instead of decoding the entire payload as one value.
Watch for an extra encoding layer
Encoding %20 again produces %2520. One decoding pass then yields %20 rather than a space. Do not repeatedly decode until a value looks familiar; identify how many encoding layers the receiving system expects.
Decoded text remains untrusted. This tool does not sanitize HTML, authorize file paths, or establish that a link is safe to open. Use structured URL APIs in production code to keep values and separators distinct.
Worked example
Input
coffee & tea
Result
coffee%20%26%20tea
Only the query value is encoded. Keep the destination URL's separators outside this value.
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