URL Encode / Decode

Q: What's the difference between PHP's urlencode() and rawurlencode(), and which one does this tool match?

urlencode() encodes a space as '+' and follows the older application/x-www-form-urlencoded format — this is the 'Form encoding' option here. rawurlencode() encodes a space as %20 and additionally escapes ! * ' ( ), following RFC 3986 — this is the 'RFC 3986' option here. Pick Form encoding when building a classic query string; pick RFC 3986 when encoding a URL path segment.

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Text / URL segment

Encoding mode

RFC 3986 (rawurlencode / rawurldecode) Form (urlencode / urldecode)

RFC 3986 uses '%20' for space and matches PHP's rawurlencode()/rawurldecode() — typical for URL path segments. Form encoding uses '+' for space and matches PHP's urlencode()/urldecode() — typical for query strings.

Result

Waiting for input...

FAQ

Q: What's the difference between PHP's urlencode() and rawurlencode(), and which one does this tool match?

A: urlencode() encodes a space as + and follows the older application/x-www-form-urlencoded format — that's the "Form encoding" option here. rawurlencode() encodes a space as %20 and additionally escapes ! * ' ( ), following RFC 3986 — that's the "RFC 3986" option here. Use Form encoding for a classic query string, and RFC 3986 for a URL path segment.

Q: Why does decoding sometimes fail with an error?

A: Decoding fails when the input contains a malformed percent-encoded sequence, such as a stray % not followed by two valid hex digits. Double-check that the text was actually URL-encoded and wasn't truncated or edited.