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TinySolve

URL Decoder

Turn a wall of %20s back into readable text — and see what a long URL is made of.

Runs in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere

What are you decoding?

Escapes everything, including : / ? # & = — right for a single parameter value, so a value containing an ampersand cannot split into two parameters.

Decoded

The result appears here as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere — the work happens in this page.

Everything happens in your browser. URLs frequently carry tokens, session identifiers and email addresses in their parameters, so nothing typed here is transmitted or logged.

About the URL Decoder

An encoded URL is unreadable by design — <code>%3A%2F%2F</code> is just <code>://</code> written in a form that survives being passed around. This turns it back, so you can see what an address actually says.

More useful than the raw decoding, usually, is the breakdown underneath it. Paste a complete URL and it is split into its scheme, host, path and every parameter, each decoded separately. A tracking link a hundred and fifty characters long becomes a short list of named values, and the one you were looking for is immediately visible.

Two details matter when decoding. Data submitted by an HTML form encodes spaces as <code>+</code> rather than <code>%20</code>, so there is a switch for that — leave it off and a genuine plus sign is preserved, turn it on and form data reads correctly. And a percent sign that is not part of an escape, which is common in text copied out of a log, makes the standard decoder throw; here it is reported with its position and what to do about it.

Choosing between decoding a whole address and decoding one value works the same way as in the encoder, and matters for the same reason.

Everything runs in your browser. Encoded URLs are exactly the place session tokens and email addresses hide, so nothing pasted here is transmitted or logged.

How to use the URL Decoder

  1. Paste the encoded text

    A whole URL or a single encoded value. It decodes as you type.

  2. Turn on + as space if it came from a form

    Form submissions encode spaces as +. Everywhere else, + means a literal plus sign.

  3. Read the breakdown

    A complete URL is split into its host, path and parameters, each one decoded separately.

  4. Copy what you need

    The decoded text copies with one tap, or downloads as a text file.

Frequently asked questions

Why does decoding fail on my text?
Almost always a lone percent sign — "100% sure" is not valid encoded text, because % must be followed by two hexadecimal digits. The tool says where the offending one is and tells you to write %25 for a literal percent sign.
Why are the spaces in my text showing as +?
Because it came from an HTML form, which encodes spaces that way. Turn on the "+ is a space" option. Leave it off for anything else, where + means an actual plus sign.
What is the parameter breakdown for?
Reading a long tracking or campaign URL. Split into named parameters, each decoded, a hundred-and-fifty-character link becomes a short list where the value you want is obvious.
Why is my text still full of escapes after decoding?
It was probably encoded twice, which happens when a URL is passed through two systems that each encode it. Decode the result again — %2520 decodes to %20 and then to a space.
Is my URL sent anywhere?
No. It is decoded in your browser. Encoded URLs are exactly where session tokens and email addresses hide, so nothing pasted here is transmitted or logged.

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