# Developer Utilities > Essential developer tools in one place. URL encode/decode, Base64 text conversion, and live Regex testing — all running locally in your browser. Developer Utilities bundles the three encoders every developer reaches for daily — a URL encoder/decoder, a Base64 text converter, and a live regular-expression tester — into one fast, local-only page. There's no context-switching between tabs and nothing you paste is sent to a server. - **Live tool:** https://www.toolnova.org/dev-tools/dev-utilities - **Category:** Developer Tools (https://www.toolnova.org/dev-tools) - **Price:** Free - **Requirements:** Runs in a modern web browser · No signup · No install ## What this tool does - URL Encoder/Decoder - Text to Base64 and back - Live Regex pattern tester - No data sent to servers ## How to use Developer Utilities 1. **Pick a utility** — Switch between URL encode/decode, Base64 text, and the regex tester. 2. **Paste your input** — Enter the string, URL component, or pattern you want to work with. 3. **Read the live result** — Output updates as you type — matches highlight instantly in regex mode. 4. **Copy and move on** — One-click copy the encoded, decoded, or matched result into your code. ## Common use cases - A developer encodes a query-string value that contains special characters. - An engineer decodes a Base64 blob from a log to read its contents. - A backend dev tests a validation regex against sample inputs before shipping it. - A student learns how URL encoding turns spaces into %20. ## About ### Why URLs need encoding URLs can only contain a limited set of characters, so spaces, ampersands, and other symbols must be percent-encoded to travel safely in a query string. Encoding before you build a URL — and decoding to read one — prevents broken links and mis-parsed parameters. ### Base64 for text, safely Base64 turns arbitrary text into an ASCII-safe string that survives systems which mangle special characters. It's encoding, not encryption — anyone can decode it — so use it for transport, never to hide secrets. ### Testing regex before you ship A regular expression that looks right can still miss edge cases. The live tester lets you paste real sample data and watch matches highlight as you refine the pattern, so you catch mistakes before they reach production. ## FAQ ### How do I encode a URL online? Paste your URL or string into the URL encoder. It automatically converts special characters (spaces, ampersands, equals signs) into percent-encoded format (e.g., space becomes %20) safe for use in URLs. ### How do I decode a URL online? Paste your percent-encoded URL (e.g., hello%20world%3F) into the URL decoder. It converts it back to readable text (hello world?). ### How do I test a regular expression online? Enter your regex pattern and test string in the Regex tester. Matches highlight in real-time as you type. You can also see capture groups, global matches, and whether the pattern is valid. ### How do I convert text to Base64? Paste your text into the Base64 encoder. The tool instantly generates the Base64-encoded version. This is commonly used for encoding credentials in HTTP headers or encoding binary data in JSON. ### Why do developers need to encode URLs? URLs can only contain certain ASCII characters. Special characters like spaces, &, =, ?, and # have special meanings in URLs. URL encoding converts these to percent-encoded format so they're transmitted correctly in HTTP requests. ### How do I decode a URL query string to read its parameters? Paste the full URL or just the query string (e.g., ?name=John%20Doe&city=New%20York) into the URL decoder. It converts all percent-encoded characters back to readable text, making it easy to inspect API URLs, OAuth redirect parameters, or tracking query strings. ### Is any of my input sent to a server? No. URL, Base64, and regex operations all run locally in your browser. ### Does the regex tester support flags? Yes — you can toggle common flags like global and case-insensitive and see matches update live. --- ToolNova — free, privacy-first browser tools. Most tools process data locally on your device. See https://www.toolnova.org/llms.txt for the full directory.