---
layout: page
title: "JavaScript urldecode function"
comments: true
sharing: true
footer: true
alias:
- /functions/view/urldecode:572
- /functions/view/urldecode
- /functions/view/572
- /functions/urldecode:572
- /functions/572
---
<!-- Generated by Rakefile:build -->
A JavaScript equivalent of PHP's urldecode

{% codeblock url/urldecode.js lang:js https://raw.github.com/kvz/phpjs/master/functions/url/urldecode.js raw on github %}
function urldecode (str) {
    // From: http://phpjs.org/functions
    // +   original by: Philip Peterson
    // +   improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +      input by: AJ
    // +   improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +   improved by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // +      input by: travc
    // +      input by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // +   bugfixed by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +   improved by: Lars Fischer
    // +      input by: Ratheous
    // +   improved by: Orlando
    // +   reimplemented by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // +      bugfixed by: Rob
    // +      input by: e-mike
    // +   improved by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // +      input by: lovio
    // +   improved by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // %        note 1: info on what encoding functions to use from: http://xkr.us/articles/javascript/encode-compare/
    // %        note 2: Please be aware that this function expects to decode from UTF-8 encoded strings, as found on
    // %        note 2: pages served as UTF-8
    // *     example 1: urldecode('Kevin+van+Zonneveld%21');
    // *     returns 1: 'Kevin van Zonneveld!'
    // *     example 2: urldecode('http%3A%2F%2Fkevin.vanzonneveld.net%2F');
    // *     returns 2: 'http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net/'
    // *     example 3: urldecode('http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.nl%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dphp.js%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dcom.ubuntu%3Aen-US%3Aunofficial%26client%3Dfirefox-a');
    // *     returns 3: 'http://www.google.nl/search?q=php.js&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a'
    // *     example 4: urldecode('%E5%A5%BD%3_4');
    // *     returns 4: '\u597d%3_4'
    return decodeURIComponent((str + '').replace(/%(?![\da-f]{2})/gi, function () {
        // PHP tolerates poorly formed escape sequences
        return '%25';
    }).replace(/\+/g, '%20'));
}
{% endcodeblock %}

 - [Raw function on GitHub](https://github.com/kvz/phpjs/blob/master/functions/url/urldecode.js)

Please note that php.js uses JavaScript objects as substitutes for PHP arrays, they are 
the closest match to this hashtable-like data structure. 

Please also note that php.js offers community built functions and goes by the 
[McDonald's Theory](https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/9216e1c9da7d). We'll put online 
functions that are far from perfect, in the hopes to spark better contributions. 
Do you have one? Then please just: 

 - [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/kvz/phpjs/edit/master/functions/url/urldecode.js)

### Example 1
This code
{% codeblock lang:js example %}
urldecode('Kevin+van+Zonneveld%21');
{% endcodeblock %}

Should return
{% codeblock lang:js returns %}
'Kevin van Zonneveld!'
{% endcodeblock %}

### Example 2
This code
{% codeblock lang:js example %}
urldecode('http%3A%2F%2Fkevin.vanzonneveld.net%2F');
{% endcodeblock %}

Should return
{% codeblock lang:js returns %}
'http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net/'
{% endcodeblock %}

### Example 3
This code
{% codeblock lang:js example %}
urldecode('http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.nl%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dphp.js%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dcom.ubuntu%3Aen-US%3Aunofficial%26client%3Dfirefox-a');
{% endcodeblock %}

Should return
{% codeblock lang:js returns %}
'http://www.google.nl/search?q=php.js&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a'
{% endcodeblock %}


### Other PHP functions in the url extension
{% render_partial _includes/custom/url.html %}