Encode and decode text using Base64 instantly. Convert any text to Base64 for safe data transmission, or decode Base64 back to plain readable text.
Type or paste the text you want to encode or decode into the Input box on the left.
Click the Encode button to convert your text, or Decode to reverse the process. Results appear instantly in your browser with no data sent to any server.
Click Copy Result to copy the output to your clipboard. Use Swap to move the output back to the input box for chained encoding operations.
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that converts binary data into a sequence of printable ASCII characters. It uses 64 characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + and /) to represent data. Base64 is widely used to encode binary data such as images, files and credentials for transmission over text-based protocols like HTTP, email and JSON APIs.
Base64 is used when you need to transmit binary data over a medium that only supports text. Common use cases include: embedding images directly in HTML or CSS as data URIs, encoding credentials in HTTP Basic Authentication headers, encoding file attachments in emails (MIME), storing binary data in JSON or XML, and passing data through URLs or form fields that do not support binary.
No. Base64 is encoding, not encryption. It is easily reversible by anyone with the encoded string and provides zero security or privacy. For security, use proper encryption such as AES. Base64 encoded data should never be treated as protected or private as anyone can decode it instantly.
Base64 works in groups of 3 bytes converted to 4 characters. If the input length is not a multiple of 3, padding characters (=) are added to make the output length a multiple of 4. One = means one byte of padding was added; == means two bytes. The padding ensures the decoder knows exactly where the data ends.
Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33%. Every 3 bytes of input becomes 4 characters of Base64 output. A 100KB file encoded in Base64 becomes approximately 133KB. This overhead is why Base64 is only used when necessary for compatibility, not as a general storage format.
Yes. Base64 can encode any binary data including text, images, audio, video, PDFs and executables. The encoded output is always plain ASCII text. For encoding plain text, the text is first converted to its binary UTF-8 representation and then Base64 encoded.
Standard Base64 uses + and / characters which have special meaning in URLs. URL-safe Base64 replaces + with - and / with _ to produce output safe for use in URLs and filenames without percent-encoding. Our tool uses standard Base64. To make it URL-safe, replace + with - and / with _ in the output.
A Base64 image in HTML looks like: data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo... To decode it, copy everything after the comma, paste it into this decoder and click Decode. The result is the raw binary data that you can save using tools that accept Base64 image input.
