Base64 Encoder / Decoder

Encode your text and data into a Base64 string, or decode a Base64 string back to its original form. Perfect for handling binary data in text-based formats.

About Our Base64 Encoder / Decoder

What is Base64 Encoding?

Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. It is designed to carry data that needs to be stored and transferred over media that are designed to deal with text. This ensures that the data remains intact without modification during transport.

How Does It Work?

The Base64 alphabet consists of 64 characters: 26 uppercase letters (A-Z), 26 lowercase letters (a-z), 10 digits (0-9), and two special characters, typically '+' and '/'. The encoding process takes 3 bytes of binary data (24 bits) and represents them as 4 printable ASCII characters (6 bits each), making it safe for text-based transmission.

How It Works

Paste Your String: Enter the text you want to process into the input field.
Choose an Action: Click 'Encode' to convert it to Base64, or 'Decode' to convert a Base64 string back to its original form.
Copy the Result: The processed string will appear in the output field, ready to be copied.

Practical Use Cases

1. Embedding Images in HTML/CSS (Data URIs)

One of the most common uses for Base64 is to embed small images or other binary files directly into HTML or CSS files. This is known as a Data URI (e.g., <img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...">). It eliminates the need for an extra HTTP request to fetch the image, which can be useful for small icons or critical assets.

2. Basic HTTP Authentication

The "Basic" HTTP authentication scheme sends user credentials in the request header. The username and password are combined into a "username:password" string, which is then Base64 encoded before being sent. Note that this is encoding, not encryption, and is not considered secure over non-HTTPS connections.

3. Transmitting Binary Data in JSON/XML

Formats like JSON and XML are text-based and cannot natively handle binary data (like the content of a file). To include binary data, it must first be Base64 encoded into a string, which can then be safely included as a value in a JSON object or XML element.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions? We have answers.

Is Base64 a form of encryption?

No, it is not. This is a common misconception. Base64 is an encoding scheme, which is a reversible transformation of data. It provides no security or confidentiality and can be easily decoded by anyone. It should never be used for protecting sensitive data.

Why does the encoded string have '=' at the end sometimes?

The '=' character is used for padding. Since Base64 works with blocks of 3 bytes (24 bits) that map to 4 characters, if the original data is not a multiple of 3 bytes, padding is added to the end of the encoded string so that its length is a multiple of 4. You might see one or two '=' characters, or none at all.

Does this tool support UTF-8 characters?

Yes. Our tool correctly handles multi-byte characters (like Cyrillic or emojis) by first encoding them into a UTF-8 byte stream before applying the Base64 algorithm, ensuring proper encoding and decoding of international text.