JavaScript encodeURI() Function

The encodeURI() function encodes a URI.

Note: The encodeURI() function does not encode characters like: , / ? : @ & = + $ #

Syntax

encodeURI(uri)

Parameters

Return Value

A string representing the encoded URI.

Description

The encodeURI() function is used to encode a URI. This function encodes special characters, except for: , / ? : @ & = + $ #

If you want to encode these characters as well, please use encodeURIComponent().

This function encodes characters by replacing each instance of certain characters with one, two, three, or four escape sequences representing the UTF-8 encoding of the character.

Technical Details

Browser Support

encodeURI() is a feature of ECMAScript1 (ES1).

All browsers fully support ES1 (JavaScript 1997):

Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

More Examples

Example

Encode a URI:

var uri = "my test.asp?name=ståle&car=saab";
var res = encodeURI(uri);

The result of res will be:

my%20test.asp?name=st%C3%A5le&car=saab

Try it yourself:

<button onclick="myFunction()">Try it</button>

<p id="demo"></p>

<script>
function myFunction() {
  var uri = "my test.asp?name=ståle&car=saab";
  var res = encodeURI(uri);
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = res;
}
</script>

Example

What is the difference between encodeURI() and encodeURIComponent()?

encodeURIComponent() will also encode these characters: , / ? : @ & = + $ #

var uri = "https://w3schools.com/my test.asp?name=ståle&car=saab";
var enc = encodeURI(uri);
var enc2 = encodeURIComponent(uri);

The result of enc and enc2 will be:

enc: https://w3schools.com/my%20test.asp?name=st%C3%A5le&car=saab
enc2: https%3A%2F%2Fw3schools.com%2Fmy%20test.asp%3Fname%3Dst%C3%A5le%26car%3Dsaab

Try it yourself:

<button onclick="myFunction()">Try it</button>

<p id="demo"></p>

<script>
function myFunction() {
  var uri = "https://w3schools.com/my test.asp?name=ståle&car=saab";
  var enc = encodeURI(uri);
  var enc2 = encodeURIComponent(uri);
  var txt = "encodeURI(): " + enc + "<br>" + "<br>" + "encodeURIComponent(): " + enc2;
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = txt;
}
</script>