Convert '%23' to '#' in PHP

Question

URL: example.com/search:#searchWord

Since the # is not send to the server, it is changed to %23.

In the search page I want to display

Results for: #searchWord

But what I get is %23searchWord. I tried htmlspecialchars(), but nothing happens.

Answer 1

echo urlencode('example.com/search:#searchWord');
// output: example.com%2Fsearch%3A%23searchWord

echo urldecode('example.com%2Fsearch%3A%23searchWord');
// output: example.com/search:#searchWord

Answer 2

To achieve your goal use urldecode.