Base64 encoder and decoder: text, URLs and files
Encode text to Base64 or decode Base64 back to text with full UTF-8 support. Turn images and files into Base64 data URIs – nothing is uploaded.
What is Base64?
Base64 is a way to write any data – text, images or files – using only 64 safe characters: A–Z, a–z, 0–9, + and /. It is used when binary data has to travel through systems that expect plain text, such as email attachments, JSON APIs, HTML data URIs and HTTP Basic authentication headers.
Base64 is encoding, not encryption. Anyone can decode it, so never use it to hide passwords or secrets.
How to use this tool
- Encode: paste text and click Encode to Base64. Emoji and non-English text are converted as UTF-8, so they decode correctly everywhere.
- Decode: paste Base64 and click Decode from Base64. Spaces, line breaks and a
data:…;base64,prefix are removed for you. - URL-safe: tick the option to replace
+and/with-and_and drop the=padding – the format used in JWT tokens and URLs. - Files: choose an image or file to get a data URI you can paste into HTML or CSS.
Why is Base64 bigger than the original?
Base64 turns every 3 bytes into 4 characters, so the encoded text is about 33% larger than the original data. That is why small icons are fine as data URIs, but large images should stay as normal image files.
Frequently asked questions
Is Base64 encryption?
No. Base64 is only an encoding. Anyone can decode it, so it does not protect passwords or private data.
Does this Base64 decoder support UTF-8?
Yes. Text is encoded and decoded as UTF-8, so emoji and languages such as Hindi, Arabic and Chinese work correctly.
What is URL-safe Base64?
URL-safe Base64 (Base64URL) replaces + with – and / with _ and usually removes the = padding, so the result can be used in URLs, file names and JWT tokens.
Why does Base64 make data larger?
Base64 represents every 3 bytes as 4 characters, so encoded data is about 33% larger than the original.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Encoding and decoding happen in your browser. Your text and files never leave your device.
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