PHP 8 reference · String Functions

PHP urlencode() Function

Encode a string for a URL query value: spaces become + and special characters become %XX codes.

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Syntax

urlencode(string $string): string

Parameter	Description
`string`	The input string.

The encoded string.

Encode a query valueTry it yourself

<?php
$q = "tea & cake?";
echo "https://example.com/search?q=" . urlencode($q), "\n";

Output

https://example.com/search?q=tea+%26+cake%3F

urlencode() vs rawurlencode()Try it yourself

<?php
echo urlencode("a b"), " ", rawurlencode("a b"), "\n";
echo urldecode("tea+%26+cake%3F"), "\n";

Output

a+b a%20b
tea & cake?

Version	Change
PHP 4.0	Added

rawurlencode() · Encode a string per RFC 3986: spaces become %20. Use it for URL path segments.
http_build_query() · Build a URL-encoded query string, such as page=2&sort=name, from an array. Nested arrays become key[]=... pairs.
base64_encode() · Encode binary data or text as Base64, using only letters, digits, + and /, so it travels safely as text.
PHP Strings · tutorial