The Python Decode Method “decode()” is used when the user wants to decode or decrypt the encoded string by specifying the encoding format that was used while encoding. This method returns the original string (pre-encoding string) back to the user, stored in the variable that calls the decode() method.

To have a clear understanding of how the decode() method works in Python, take a look at its syntax.

Syntax of the decode() Method

The syntax is defined as :

Within this syntax:

• stringVar is the string that has been previously encoded and needs to be decrypted back to the original form.
• encodeFormat defines the encoding format that was used to encode the string initially
• errorMode defines the error-handling mode to use while trying to decode the string into its original form.

Now that you are familiar with the syntax of the decode() method let’s take a look at some examples.

Example 1: Decoding a Simply Encoded String

In this example, you are going to try to decode() a string that has been encoded by the encode() method without specifying the encoding format. To do this, first, encode a string using the following code snippet:

Let’s print out the encoded string using the following line:

The program, at this time, gives the following output:

After that, apply the decode() method and print it on the terminal using the print method:

When you execute the code now, it will produce the following result on the terminal:

You have successfully used the decode() method to the original non-encoded string in Python.

Example 2: Decoding a String With Specific Encoding Format

To demonstrate the working of the decode() method on a string that has been encoded with a specific encoding format, take the following lines of code:

At this point, when this code snippet is executed, it will produce the following output on the terminal:

If you try to apply the decode() method with specifying the encoding format:

It will produce the following error on the terminal:

Therefore, the correct code for decoding this string is as:

This time around, when the complete code snippet is executed, it will produce the following result on the terminal:

You have successfully decoded a string which had been encoded with a specific encoded string.

Conclusion

The decode() method in Python is used to decode a string that has been encoded with a specific format. This method takes two arguments which are both options, the first one is the encoding type, and the second one is the error-handling mode. If no arguments are provided, then the decode() method sets the encoding format to “utf8”.