URL Decoder
Decode a percent-encoded URL back to plain text
Percent-encoded
Decoded
https://example.com/search?q=hello world&lang=en
A percent-decoder that updates live as you paste. Drop in a URL-encoded string — a query parameter, a full URL, anything with %XX escapes — and get plain text back instantly, with a clear error message if the input isn't validly encoded.
- Is my text sent anywhere?
- No. Decoding happens entirely in your browser using standard JavaScript — nothing you paste is sent to a server.
- What does this tool actually undo?
- It reverses percent-encoding — %XX sequences like %20 (space) or %3F (?) — regardless of whether the original text was produced with encodeURIComponent or encodeURI. Both produce the same kind of escapes; this just unescapes them back to plain text.
- Why do I get an error on some input?
- A percent-encoded string is invalid if it has a "%" not followed by two hex digits, or an escape sequence that doesn’t form valid UTF-8. That usually means the text wasn’t actually percent-encoded, or got double-encoded/truncated somewhere along the way — the error message here tells you decoding failed rather than silently returning garbage.