URL Encoder/Decoder is a simple, fast, & reliable online tool by SEO Helpify that serves the need to encode or decode decoded or encoded URLs respectively. All you have to do is to write the encoded or decoded URL and press the big red and sit back, relax, have a sip of coffee, and enjoy as the URL you just entered gets encoded/decoded in a mere second.
How does it work?
Well, it's a pretty simple utility that was kind of easy to develop for the hardworking team at SEO Helpify. It works like this:
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The entered URL gets parsed, based on a method called "Percent Encoding".
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The parsed URL is searched for colons (:) & the colons, if found, are replaced with %3A, the encoded format for the colon.
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Then the URL is searched for forward slashes (/) and, if found, are replaced with %2F.
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The white spaces or simple spaces are replaced with the plus (+) sign and that ends the process of URL Encoding.
But what about Decoding?
Decoding works the exact opposite way, %3A, %2F, and (+) get replaced with a colon (:), slash (/) & whitespace respectively.
Why would you Encode/Decode a URL?
Even though the browser doesn't require an encoded URL to work correctly, some services such as APIs & Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) require the HTTP request to be sent with an encoded URL.
This is done to prevent URL Injection, also known as URL spamming, a method used by the hackers to deliver unnecessary load at a web server. If the URL, at which the request is being sent. is encoded, the receiving end of the server can decode the URL and perform safety checks to ensure no URL injection measures are used.