URL Encode in PHP — Free Online Tool + Code Examples

How to URL Encode in PHP

PHP provides two URL encoding functions: urlencode() which encodes spaces as + (for form data), and rawurlencode() which encodes spaces as %20 (RFC 3986 compliant). For most modern web applications, rawurlencode() is the recommended choice.

urlencode() and rawurlencode() Examples

<?php
// Basic encoding
$text = 'hello world & goodbye';
echo urlencode($text);     // hello+world+%26+goodbye
echo rawurlencode($text);  // hello%20world%20%26%20goodbye

// Build URL with encoded parameters
$params = [
    'q'    => 'search term with spaces',
    'lang' => 'en',
    'page' => 1,
];
$query = http_build_query($params);
echo \"https://api.example.com/search?{$query}\";
// https://api.example.com/search?q=search+term+with+spaces&lang=en&page=1

// Encode special characters
echo rawurlencode('price=€100');  // price%3D%E2%82%AC100
echo rawurlencode('/path/to');    // %2Fpath%2Fto

// Decode
echo urldecode('hello+world');      // hello world
echo rawurldecode('hello%20world'); // hello world

urlencode() vs rawurlencode()

http_build_query() — The Best Practice

<?php
// Recommended way to build URL query strings
$params = [
    'search' => 'php url encode example',
    'filters' => ['type' => 'article', 'year' => 2024],
];
echo http_build_query($params);
// search=php+url+encode+example&filters%5Btype%5D=article&filters%5Byear%5D=2024

// With custom separator
echo http_build_query($params, '', '&');
// For use inside HTML attributes

When to Use Each

• rawurlencode() — RFC 3986 compliant. Use for URL path segments and REST API parameters.
• urlencode() — Use for application/x-www-form-urlencoded data (HTML form submissions).
• http_build_query() — Use when building complete query strings from arrays. Handles nested arrays automatically.