Question 1

What is URL encoding?

Accepted Answer

URL encoding (percent encoding) replaces unsafe characters in URLs with a % sign followed by their hex value. For example, a space becomes %20. This ensures URLs are transmitted correctly across the internet.

Question 2

When do I need to URL encode?

Accepted Answer

URL encode when passing special characters in query parameters, form data, or path segments. Characters like spaces, &, =, ?, #, and non-ASCII characters must be encoded to avoid breaking the URL structure.

Question 3

What characters need URL encoding?

Accepted Answer

Characters outside the unreserved set (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, -, _, ., ~) should be encoded in URL components. Reserved characters like &, =, ?, #, and / have special meanings and need encoding when used as data.

URL Encoder / Decoder