Base64 Encode/Decode
Encode text to Base64 or decode Base64 to text.
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Output
About Base64 Encode/Decode
Base64 encoding converts binary data to ASCII text. Use this tool to encode or decode Base64 strings.
Common Use Cases:
- Encoding data for URLs
- Encoding images for data URIs
- Decoding Base64 encoded data
- Data transmission encoding
Frequently Asked Questions
Base64 was created to safely transmit binary data (like images, audio files, or arbitrary bytes) through systems designed to handle only printable ASCII text. Early email systems (SMTP) and many data interchange formats could not handle raw binary data — they would corrupt it. Base64 encodes any data as a string of 64 printable characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, +, /) that pass through text-only systems safely.
No. Base64 is encoding, not encryption. Anyone who sees a Base64 string can decode it instantly using any Base64 decoder. It provides no confidentiality — do not use it to "hide" passwords or sensitive data. It is purely a way to represent binary data as text. HTTP Basic Authentication uses Base64 to transmit credentials, but this is why HTTPS (encryption) must be used alongside it.
Base64 encoding makes data approximately 33% larger than the original. Three bytes of input become four Base64 characters. A 1 MB image encoded as Base64 becomes roughly 1.33 MB. This overhead is why Base64 is used only when necessary (e.g., embedding images in HTML/CSS data URIs) and not as a general-purpose storage format.