Base64 Encoder/Decoder

Professional Base64 encoding and decoding tool with Unicode support, real-time conversion, and error handling. Perfect for developers working with APIs, data URLs, and binary data encoding.

Text Input (Encode to Base64)

Base64 Output (Encoded)

Base64 Input (Decode to Text)

Decoded Text Output

Enter text or Base64 data above to see real-time conversion results.

What is Base64 Encoding?

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

The encoding process works by taking three bytes (24 bits) of binary data and converting them into four characters from a 64-character set (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /). If the input data length is not a multiple of three, padding characters (=) are added to make the output length a multiple of four.

Base64 encoding is widely used in various applications, including:

Email Attachments: MIME standard for encoding binary files in email messages.
Web Development: Embedding images, fonts, and other assets directly in CSS, HTML, or JavaScript files (data URLs).
API Communication: Transmitting binary data over text-based protocols like HTTP.
Data Storage: Storing binary data in text-based formats like JSON or XML.
Cryptography: Encoding keys and certificates for transmission.

How to Use This Tool

To Encode: Type or paste your text into the "Text Input" box. The Base64 encoded output will appear instantly in the "Base64 Output" box.
To Decode: Paste your Base64 string into the "Base64 Input" box. The decoded text will appear instantly in the "Decoded Text Output" box.
Copy and Clear: Use the "Copy" buttons to copy the results to your clipboard, and the "Clear" buttons to reset the input fields.
Paste from Clipboard: Click the "Paste" buttons to quickly insert content from your clipboard into the input fields.

Pro Tips:

The tool supports Unicode characters, so you can encode text in any language.
For large inputs, the tool processes them efficiently in real-time.
Error handling is built-in - invalid Base64 strings will show clear error messages.

Practical Use Cases

Web Development: Data URLs

Create data URLs for embedding small images or files directly in your HTML or CSS. For example, to embed a small icon:

<img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mNkYPhfDwAChwGA60e6kgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" alt="Icon">

API Integration

When working with REST APIs that require binary data transmission, encode files or images as Base64 strings for inclusion in JSON payloads.

Email Development

Test Base64 encoding for email attachments or embedded images in HTML emails to ensure proper rendering across email clients.

Data Migration

Convert binary data to text format for migration between systems that don't support binary data types.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is this tool secure?: Yes. All encoding and decoding happens directly in your browser. No data is ever sent to our servers, ensuring your information remains private.
Why does my decoded text look like gibberish?: This can happen if the original data was not plain text (e.g., an image or a file). Base64 can encode any binary data, but this tool is designed to decode text. If you decode a Base64 string that represents a file, the output will be the raw binary data of that file, which will not be human-readable.
What is the difference between Base64 and other encodings?: Base64 is specifically designed for encoding binary data as text using 64 characters. Other encodings like Hexadecimal use 16 characters and are less efficient for text transmission. Base64 is optimized for scenarios where binary data needs to be transmitted over text-only channels.
Can I encode files with this tool?: This tool is designed for text encoding. For file encoding, you would need a tool that can read binary file data and convert it to Base64. However, you can paste the Base64 representation of a file here to decode it back to its original form.
What are the limitations of Base64 encoding?: Base64 encoding increases the size of the data by approximately 33% (4 characters for every 3 bytes). It's not suitable for large files due to this overhead and potential performance issues.
Is Base64 encryption?: No, Base64 is not encryption. It's a form of encoding that makes binary data readable as text. Anyone with the Base64 string can decode it back to the original data. For security, use proper encryption methods in addition to encoding.

Technical Details

This tool uses the standard Base64 alphabet: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, and /. The implementation follows RFC 4648 specifications and includes proper Unicode handling using UTF-8 encoding before Base64 conversion.

Character Set: The 64 characters used are: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/

Padding: When the input data length is not divisible by 3, the output is padded with = characters to ensure the output length is a multiple of 4.