Slug Generator
Convert any text into a clean, URL-friendly slug for use in URLs, filenames, or other identifiers. Automatically detects and extracts paths from URLs.
Recommended: 60 characters (fully visible in search results). Slugs are trimmed at word boundaries when possible.
Table of Contents
What is a Slug?
A slug is a URL-friendly version of a string, typically used to identify a specific page or resource. Unlike the original text, a slug is clean, readable, and works perfectly in URLs without encoding special characters. Slugs are essential for creating human-readable and SEO-friendly URLs. Our generator supports Unicode characters and handles accented characters intelligently.
For example:
- "How to Build the Best DIY Tool Collection" → "how-to-build-the-best-diy-tool-collection"
- "Peaches & Cream Recipe" → "peaches-and-cream-recipe"
- "Crème Brûlée" → "creme-brulee" (accented characters normalized)
- "こんにちは 世界" → "こんにちは-世界" (Unicode characters preserved)
- "résumé & curriculum vitae" → "resume-and-curriculum-vitae"
- "snake_case_slug" → "snake-case-slug" (underscores converted to hyphens)
- "Slug%20Generator" → "slug-generator" (URL decoding applied first)
- "https://example.com/blog/my-article" → "blog-my-article" (URL path extracted)
- "Tips & Tricks for 2025" → "tips-and-tricks-for-2025"
How Our Slug Generator Works
Our slug generator transforms any text into a clean, URL-friendly slug by applying several important transformations. It also automatically detects URLs and extracts the path for slug generation.
- URL detection: Automatically detects URLs and extracts the pathname for slug generation (e.g., "https://example.com/blog/article" extracts "blog article")
- URL decoding: Decodes URL-encoded components first (e.g., "Slug%20Generator" → "Slug Generator" before slugification)
- Whitespace normalization: Collapses multiple spaces into single spaces and trims leading/trailing whitespace
- Accent normalization: Converts accented characters to their base forms (e.g., "Crème" → "creme", "résumé" → "resume")
- Unicode support: Preserves non-Latin characters like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and other Unicode letters and numbers
- Lowercasing: Converts all characters to lowercase for consistency (where applicable)
- Ampersand replacement: Replaces "&" with "and" for better readability (e.g., "Peaches & Cream" → "peaches-and-cream")
- Snake case conversion: Converts underscores to hyphens (e.g., "snake_case_slug" → "snake-case-slug")
- Special character removal: Removes punctuation and special characters (except hyphens, Unicode letters, and numbers)
- Space replacement: Replaces spaces with hyphens
- Duplicate removal: Eliminates multiple consecutive hyphens
- Trim: Removes leading and trailing hyphens
- Length limiting: Optional feature to trim slugs to a maximum length (default 60 characters) for optimal SEO, cutting at word boundaries when possible
The process is instant and automatic - simply type or paste your text, and the slug generates in real-time.
Use Cases
Slugs are used in many different contexts:
- URLs: Creating clean, readable URLs for blog posts and pages. You can paste an existing URL and extract or modify its slug.
- Filenames: Generating safe filenames that work across all operating systems
- SEO: Improving search engine optimization with keyword-rich URLs
- API identifiers: Creating consistent identifiers for API endpoints
- Database keys: Using slugs as human-readable keys in databases
- Social sharing: Ensuring URLs look professional when shared
- URL migration: Converting existing URLs or extracting slugs from URLs for migration or restructuring
Best Practices for Slugs
Keep it Concise
Aim for slugs that are descriptive but not overly long. Shorter slugs are more memorable and easier to read. For optimal SEO:
- Optimal: ≤60 characters (fully visible in search engine results)
- Acceptable: 60-75 characters (may be truncated in search results)
- Maximum: ≤100 characters (SEO best practice)
Use the length limiting option in our tool to automatically trim long slugs at word boundaries, ensuring your slugs stay within recommended limits while maintaining readability.
Use Keywords
Include relevant keywords that describe the content. This helps with SEO and makes the URL more meaningful.
Special Character Handling
Our tool automatically handles special characters and supports multiple languages:
- URL-encoded text is decoded first (e.g., "Slug%20Generator" → "Slug Generator" before slugification)
- Accented characters are normalized (e.g., "Crème Brûlée" → "creme-brulee")
- Unicode characters (Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) are preserved (e.g., "こんにちは 世界" → "こんにちは-世界")
- Ampersands (&) are replaced with "and" (e.g., "Tips & Tricks" → "tips-and-tricks")
- Underscores are converted to hyphens (e.g., "snake_case" → "snake-case")
- Other punctuation and special characters are removed
- Spaces are converted to hyphens
Be Unique
Ensure each slug is unique to avoid conflicts and confusion. If generating slugs for multiple items, verify uniqueness.
Consider Readability
While slugs should be concise, they should still be readable and make sense when viewed in isolation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a good slug?
A good slug is concise, descriptive, and contains relevant keywords. It should be readable, URL-friendly, and unique. Keep it under 60 characters when possible and make it meaningful to both users and search engines.
What happens to ampersands (&) in my text?
Ampersands are automatically replaced with "and" for better readability and SEO. For example, "Tips & Tricks" becomes "tips-and-tricks" rather than "tips-tricks". This preserves the meaning of your text and is consistent with standard slug generation practices used by WordPress, Drupal, and other major platforms.
What happens to snake_case (underscores)?
Underscores are automatically converted to hyphens for consistency. For example, "snake_case_slug" becomes "snake-case-slug". This ensures all slugs use a uniform format and is consistent with URL slug best practices that prefer hyphens over underscores.
Can I paste a URL into the slug generator?
Yes! The slug generator automatically detects URLs and extracts the pathname for slug generation.
Examples:
- "https://example.com/blog/my-article" → Extracts "blog my-article" → "blog-my-article"
- "www.example.com/products/item-123" → Extracts "products item-123" → "products-item-123"
- "https://example.com/" → Uses domain name "example.com"
Multi-segment paths are converted to a single slug. If you want to use the full URL as text instead, you can edit the input after pasting. The tool will show a notification when a URL is detected.
Does it handle URL-encoded text?
Yes! The tool automatically decodes URL-encoded components before processing. This ensures proper handling of encoded spaces, special characters, and other URL-encoded sequences.
Examples:
- "Slug%20Generator" → Decodes to "Slug Generator" → "slug-generator"
- "Hello%20World%20%26%20Universe" → Decodes to "Hello World & Universe" → "hello-world-and-universe"
- "My%20Article%20Title" → Decodes to "My Article Title" → "my-article-title"
The processing order is: 1) Decode URL encoding → 2) Normalize whitespace → 3) Slugify. This ensures URL-encoded text is properly converted before slug generation.
Can I customize how the slug is generated?
Currently, our tool uses standard slug generation rules that ensure maximum compatibility across all systems. The generated slugs follow web standards and are optimized for SEO and readability. You can manually edit the generated slug in the output field if you need to make adjustments.
Are the generated slugs SEO-friendly?
Yes! The slugs generated by our tool are optimized for SEO. They include relevant keywords, are readable by both humans and search engines, and follow best practices for URL structure.
What languages are supported?
Our slug generator supports Unicode and works with virtually all languages including:
- Latin-based languages (English, Spanish, French, German, etc.) - Accented characters are normalized (é → e, ü → u)
- Japanese (ひらがな, カタカナ, 漢字) - Preserved as-is
- Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) - Preserved as-is
- Arabic, Korean, Cyrillic, and other Unicode scripts - All preserved
Accented characters are converted to their base forms for better compatibility, while non-Latin scripts are preserved to maintain meaning and support modern SEO practices that allow Unicode in URLs.
How long can a slug be?
While there's no strict technical limit, we recommend keeping slugs under 60 characters for optimal readability and SEO. Very long slugs can be truncated in search results and may look less professional.
Recommended lengths:
- Optimal: ≤60 characters (fully visible in search results)
- Acceptable: 60-75 characters (may be truncated)
- Maximum: ≤100 characters (SEO best practice)
Our tool includes an optional length limiting feature (enabled by default) that automatically trims slugs to your specified maximum length, cutting at word boundaries when possible to maintain readability. You can adjust the maximum length or disable trimming entirely if needed.
Can I edit the generated slug?
Yes! After generation, you can manually edit the slug in the output field if you need to make adjustments. However, remember to maintain URL-friendly characters (only letters, numbers, and hyphens).
Will this work for all content management systems?
Absolutely! The slugs generated by our tool follow web standards and will work with WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, custom CMS solutions, and static site generators like Jekyll, Hugo, and SvelteKit.
Is there a limit to how many slugs I can generate?
No! You can use our slug generator unlimited times. It's completely free and there are no usage restrictions or hidden fees.