How to Slugify a String in Python

Convert any text into a URL-friendly slug using the standard library's unicodedata and re modules.

Easy Python 3.9+ Aug 9, 2026 Strings & text 14 views 0 copies

slugify string url text-processing

Python code

13 lines

Python 3.9+

import re
import unicodedata

def slugify(text):
    text = unicodedata.normalize('NFKD', text)
    text = text.encode('ascii', 'ignore').decode('ascii')
    text = re.sub(r'[^\w\s-]', '', text).strip().lower()
    text = re.sub(r'[-\s]+', '-', text)
    return text

if __name__ == "__main__":
    title = "Hello, World! This is a Test — Slugify Me"
    print(slugify(title))

Output

stdout

hello-world-this-is-a-test-slugify-me

How it works

The function normalizes Unicode characters to their decomposed form and removes accents, making the string ASCII-safe. It then strips non-word characters and whitespace, lowers the case, and replaces spaces and dashes with a single hyphen. This produces clean, readable slugs suitable for URLs or file names.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to handle Unicode characters like accented letters or em dashes
Not trimming whitespace before replacing spaces, leading to leading/trailing hyphens
Using `-` replacement on empty strings, which can produce double hyphens if not collapsed

Variations

Use a third-party library like `python-slugify` for more control over transliteration.
Append a random suffix or a numeric ID to ensure uniqueness in a database.

Real-world use cases

Generating SEO-friendly URLs for blog posts from their titles.
Creating consistent file names for downloaded resources based on content names.
Producing safe identifiers for caching keys when normalizing user-generated content.

How to Slugify a String in Python

Python code

Output

How it works

Common mistakes

Variations

Real-world use cases

More from Strings & text

Tutorials

Quizzes

Python code

Output

How it works

Common mistakes

Variations

Real-world use cases

More from Strings & text

Keep learning

Tutorials

Quizzes