A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network. It includes a protocol (scheme), hostname, optional port, path, query string, and fragment identifier.

What is the structure of a URL?

A URL follows the format: scheme://host:port/path?query#fragment. For example, in https://example.com:443/page?q=1#section, the scheme is https, host is example.com, port is 443, path is /page, query is q=1, and fragment is section.

What is the difference between URL and URI?

A URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is a broader term that includes both URLs (locators) and URNs (names). A URL is a type of URI that provides the means to locate a resource. All URLs are URIs, but not all URIs are URLs.

What are query parameters?

Query parameters are key-value pairs appended to a URL after the question mark (?). They are separated by ampersands (&) and used to pass data to web servers, such as search queries, page numbers, or filter options.

/ /URL Parser

URL Parser

Parse a URL to view its components. Auto-adds https:// if no scheme is provided. Supports encoding and decoding of URL components.

Inputs

URL to Parse

Results

Enter a URL to parse...

Related Tools

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a URL?: A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network. It includes a protocol (scheme), hostname, optional port, path, query string, and fragment identifier.
What is the structure of a URL?: A URL follows the format: scheme://host:port/path?query#fragment. For example, in https://example.com:443/page?q=1#section, the scheme is https, host is example.com, port is 443, path is /page, query is q=1, and fragment is section.
What is the difference between URL and URI?: A URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is a broader term that includes both URLs (locators) and URNs (names). A URL is a type of URI that provides the means to locate a resource. All URLs are URIs, but not all URIs are URLs.
What are query parameters?: Query parameters are key-value pairs appended to a URL after the question mark (?). They are separated by ampersands (&) and used to pass data to web servers, such as search queries, page numbers, or filter options.
What is URL encoding?: URL encoding (percent encoding) replaces special characters with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits. For example, a space becomes %20, and an ampersand becomes %26. This ensures URLs are safely transmitted over the internet.
When should I use encodeURIComponent vs encodeURI?: Use encodeURIComponent() when encoding a query parameter value that may contain special characters like & or =. Use encodeURI() when encoding a full URL, as it preserves characters that are part of the URL syntax (:/?#[]@).
What is a fragment identifier?: A fragment identifier (the part after #) refers to a specific section within a web page. Browsers scroll to the element with the matching id attribute. Fragments are not sent to the server in HTTP requests.
What is RESTful URL design?: RESTful URLs use nouns to represent resources (e.g., /users/123) and HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for actions. Good RESTful URLs are hierarchical, human-readable, and avoid verbs or query parameters for resource identification.
What is the difference between absolute and relative URLs?: An absolute URL includes the full scheme, host, and path (e.g., https://example.com/page). A relative URL specifies a path relative to the current page (e.g., /page or ../images/pic.jpg). Relative URLs are resolved against the base URL.
What is URL normalization?: URL normalization is the process of standardizing URLs to their canonical form. This includes decoding percent-encoded characters, converting scheme and host to lowercase, removing default ports, removing trailing dots, and resolving relative paths.
How do I pass special characters in URLs?: Special characters must be percent-encoded. Use encodeURIComponent() for query parameter values. Common encodings: space = %20, & = %26, = = %3D, # = %23, ? = %3F. Without encoding, these characters break URL parsing.
What is a canonical URL?: A canonical URL is the preferred version of a web page when multiple URLs serve identical or similar content. It is specified using a rel="canonical" link element to prevent duplicate content issues in search engine indexing.
What is URL shortening?: URL shortening converts long URLs into short aliases that redirect to the original URL. Services like bit.ly and TinyURL use HTTP 301 or 302 redirects. Short URLs are convenient for sharing but can obscure the destination.
What are data URLs?: Data URLs (scheme: data:) embed small files directly in the URL using base64 or percent encoding. Format: data:[MIME-type][;base64],<data>. They are useful for inline images but increase HTML size and are not cacheable.