Should a URL slug use hyphens or underscores?

Hyphens. Google's URL structure guidelines recommend hyphens (-) rather than underscores (_) to separate words in a URL, and hyphen is this tool's default. Switch to underscore only when a system requires it, such as a file-naming or database convention.

How are diacritics handled?

By default, characters with accents are normalised to their base letter using Unicode normalisation, so café and naïve become cafe and naive, and letters such as ß, ø and ł are spelled out as ss, o and l. Turn off Strip diacritics to keep accented letters as they are.

Does the generator remove words like a, the and of?

Every word is kept, so The Quick Brown Fox becomes the-quick-brown-fox. Delete filler words from the title yourself for a shorter slug, or lower the maximum length to cut it at a set number of characters.

What is the maximum slug length?

The default cap is 80 characters, which suits most route and file-name conventions. The cap can be set anywhere from 10 to 500 characters in the side panel.

Is my text sent to a server?

All slug generation runs in your browser using built-in JavaScript string methods. Our servers are not involved at any point.

SEO-friendly URL slug generator

A URL slug is the last part of a web address that names the page, such as how-to-brew-coffee in /blog/how-to-brew-coffee. This generator turns a title into that form: lowercase ASCII letters and digits joined by hyphens, with accents converted to plain letters and the result cut to 80 characters by default.

Input (one title per line)

Output slugs

hello-world
cafe-au-lait-croissants
the-quick-brown-fox-jumps-over-the-lazy-dog
naive-approach-to-url-routing
10-tips-for-better-seo-in-2026

5 slugs

SEPARATOR

OPTIONS

LowercaseStrip diacritics

MAX LENGTH

10 to 500 characters

Runs entirely in your browser

How it works

With Strip diacritics on (the default), the generator uses the browser's built-in String.normalize with the NFKD form to split accented letters into a base character plus a combining mark, strips combining marks using a Unicode property regex, and spells out letters that have no decomposition, such as ß (ss), ø (o) and ł (l). After lower-casing, any character other than an ASCII letter or digit is replaced with the chosen separator. With the option off, the text is normalised with the NFKC form, variation selectors (such as the emoji selector), other invisible letters and marks (such as the Hangul filler) and keycap marks are removed, and every Unicode letter and digit is kept with the combining marks that follow it. Leading and trailing separators are trimmed, and the result is truncated to the configured length without leaving a separator at the end.

Processing runs in your browser

All slug generation happens locally in your browser tab. Our servers are not involved at any point.

Frequently asked questions

Should a URL slug use hyphens or underscores?: Hyphens. Google's URL structure guidelines recommend hyphens (-) rather than underscores (_) to separate words in a URL, and hyphen is this tool's default. Switch to underscore only when a system requires it, such as a file-naming or database convention.
How are diacritics handled?: By default, characters with accents are normalised to their base letter using Unicode normalisation, so café and naïve become cafe and naive, and letters such as ß, ø and ł are spelled out as ss, o and l. Turn off Strip diacritics to keep accented letters as they are.
Does the generator remove words like a, the and of?: Every word is kept, so The Quick Brown Fox becomes the-quick-brown-fox. Delete filler words from the title yourself for a shorter slug, or lower the maximum length to cut it at a set number of characters.
What is the maximum slug length?: The default cap is 80 characters, which suits most route and file-name conventions. The cap can be set anywhere from 10 to 500 characters in the side panel.
Is my text sent to a server?: All slug generation runs in your browser using built-in JavaScript string methods. Our servers are not involved at any point.

Last reviewed September 30, 2026

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