Working With URLs
Last updated: 27 September 2026
A URL has parts with different jobs: scheme, host, path, query, and fragment. When you encode the whole thing as one string, you can accidentally change where it points.
Identify the part you are changing
To add a query parameter, encode its name and value rather than encoding the entire URL. A fragment (#...) stays in the browser and is not sent in an ordinary HTTP request. Check whether a trailing slash or a change from http to https matters to the service you are calling.
Be careful with what you share
URLs can appear in browser history, server logs, screenshots, and referrer information. Do not put passwords or live tokens in a query string. A shortened or decoded link is still just a link: inspect the destination before visiting it.
Related tools
- SafeLink Decoder — Extract the real destination behind an Outlook SafeLink.