How to Use Slug Generator: Complete Guide (2026)

What is Slug Generator?

A slug generator (or slugify tool) converts any title or phrase into a clean, URL-friendly permalink. This free online Slug Generator lowercases text, strips accents with Unicode NFKD, replaces non-alphanumeric runs with a hyphen or underscore, and trims extra separators - all in your browser with no signup. Use it for blog posts, product pages, CMS permalinks, static-site routes, and filenames that need to stay ASCII-safe and readable.

Turn any title or phrase into a clean, SEO-friendly URL slug. Lowercase, strip accents, and choose hyphen or underscore separators - free, instant, and private.

Why use Slug Generator?

• Create SEO-friendly URL slugs instantly from any title or headline
• Strip accents and punctuation so slugs stay ASCII-safe across hosts
• Choose hyphen (recommended) or underscore separators for your stack
• Live preview updates as you type - copy once and paste into your CMS
• Runs 100% in your browser - no account, no upload, and no server logging

How to use Slug Generator - step by step

1. Step 1: Paste or type a page title, headline, or any text into the input box.
2. Step 2: Choose Hyphen (-) for SEO-friendly URLs, or Underscore (_) if your stack requires it.
3. Step 3: Read the live slug output as it updates while you type.
4. Step 4: Click Copy slug and paste it into your CMS permalink, filename, or route.

The Slug Generator lives under SEO Tools. Open the tool page, enter your input in the main field, and results update instantly. Use the copy button to paste output into documents, code editors, or spreadsheets.

Common use cases

Blog and documentation permalinks

Turn article titles into short, keyword-focused path segments before you publish in WordPress, Ghost, Notion, or a static site generator.

Product and category URLs

Slugify product names and category labels so e-commerce and catalog URLs stay consistent, readable, and free of spaces or special characters.

CMS and route configuration

Generate slugs for Next.js, Astro, or custom CMS routes when editors paste titles and you need a safe default path segment.

Filenames and asset keys

Use underscore mode when you need filesystem- or API-friendly identifiers (S3 keys, download names) derived from human-readable titles.

Examples

• Blog post title to permalink: Input "How to Write SEO-Friendly URL Slugs" → Output "how-to-write-seo-friendly-url-slugs". Paste into WordPress, Ghost, or Next.js as the path segment.
• Accented or international titles: Input "Café au lait" → Output "cafe-au-lait". Diacritics are stripped via Unicode NFKD so URLs stay ASCII-safe across hosts and CDNs.
• Underscore for filenames or APIs: Switch the separator to Underscore when you need "hello_world" style identifiers for file names, S3 keys, or systems that prefer underscores over hyphens.

Pro tips

• Prefer hyphens over underscores for public web URLs - search engines treat hyphens as word separators.
• Keep slugs short and keyword-focused; drop filler words like "a", "the", and "of" when they do not help clarity.
• Generate the slug before publishing. Changing a live URL without a 301 redirect can break links and dilute ranking signals.
• Pair with the Meta Description Checker to polish the SERP snippet after you lock in the permalink.
• If you need Title Case or kebab-case for display copy (not URLs), use Text Case Converter alongside this tool.

Frequently asked questions

What is a URL slug?

A slug is the readable part of a URL that identifies a page - for example, "how-to-use-slug-generator" in /blog/how-to-use-slug-generator. Good slugs are short, lowercase, keyword-focused, and separated by hyphens so people and search engines can understand the page topic at a glance.

Should I use hyphens or underscores in slugs?

Prefer hyphens. Google treats hyphens as word separators and generally recommends them for URL readability. Underscores are often treated as part of a single word, which can hurt keyword clarity. Use underscores only when a CMS, API, or filename convention requires them.

Does this tool remove accents and special characters?

Yes. Text is normalized with Unicode NFKD and combining diacritical marks are stripped (café → cafe), then anything that is not a letter or digit is replaced with your chosen separator. The result is a clean ASCII-friendly slug suitable for most web servers.

Will changing a slug hurt SEO?

Changing a published slug can break old links and lose ranking signals unless you set up a permanent (301) redirect from the old URL to the new one. Generate the right slug before you publish when you can, and always redirect if you must rename a live page.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. Slug generation runs entirely in your browser. Your titles and phrases are never sent to a server, so it is safe to use with unpublished drafts and internal product names.

Related tools you might need

Explore other seo tools on ToolsMinify. Related utilities are linked on the Slug Generator page to help you complete your workflow without leaving the site.