HTML Form URL Encoding (Spaces as +)
Encode text the way HTML forms do: spaces become +, and other reserved characters become %HH. application/x-www-form-urlencoded.
Part of the free URL Encoder. Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
HTML Form URL Encoding (Spaces as +)
HTML forms that POST as application/x-www-form-urlencoded replace spaces with + instead of %20. The rest of the encoding matches encodeURIComponent. Use this when you are rebuilding a form body by hand.
Worked example: A form field
Text
Ada Lovelace
Encoded
Ada+Lovelace
Practical tip
When decoding, turn + into a space before decodeURIComponent, or the plus survives as a literal +.
How to use this URL Encoder
- 1Use the live tool above — it runs entirely in your browser and never uploads your data.
- 2Paste the sample from the worked example, or use your own input.
- 3Copy the result, then adapt the same steps in your editor, script, or pipeline.
HTML Form URL Encoding (Spaces as +) FAQs
Is + valid in a URL query?
Many servers treat + in a query as a space because of form encoding. %20 is unambiguous.
Does fetch encode like a form?
URLSearchParams does. A raw JSON body does not — that is a different content type.
More URL Encoder pages
- URL Encode Spaces to %20Turn spaces into %20 with encodeURIComponent. See the difference between %20 and +, and encode any string online.
- encodeURIComponent OnlineRun encodeURIComponent in the browser. Encode query values, JSON snippets and reserved characters exactly as JavaScript does.
- URL Encode Special CharactersPercent-encode &, =, ?, # and / so they can sit safely inside a query value. Free online URL encoder.
- Encode Query String ParametersPercent-encode query parameter values before building a URL. Avoid broken requests caused by spaces, ampersands and Unicode.
- URL Encode UTF-8 and UnicodePercent-encode accents, non-Latin letters and emoji as UTF-8 bytes. See why café becomes caf%C3%A9.
- encodeURI vs encodeURIComponentSee the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent on the same URL. Learn which one belongs in query values.
- Bulk URL EncoderURL-encode many lines at once. Paste a list of values or URLs and encode each line independently.
- Encode a URL for an API RequestPercent-encode path and query values before calling an API. Avoid 400s caused by spaces, Unicode and reserved characters.
- URL Encode & and =Encode & as %26 and = as %3D so they can appear inside a single query value without breaking the string.