Base64 Encoder & Decoder
Quickly convert plain text to Base64 encoded string or decode Base64 data back to readable UTF-8 text in real-time.
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 designed to ensure data remains intact without modification during transfer over networks or media that are designed to handle textual information.
Common Real-World Uses of Base64
- Email Attachments (MIME): Email protocols like SMTP were originally built for plain 7-bit ASCII text. Base64 encodes images and documents safely across mail servers.
- Data URIs in Web Development: Small PNG or SVG graphics can be embedded directly into HTML and CSS files (e.g.
data:image/png;base64,...) to prevent additional HTTP round trips. - Web APIs and Basic Authentication: HTTP Basic Auth passes credentials in the
Authorization: Basic <credentials>header using Base64 encoding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33% compared to the original raw binary data because 3 bytes of data are transformed into 4 ASCII characters.
Yes! Our tool features native UTF-8 multi-byte character mapping, ensuring all Unicode languages, symbols, and emojis encode and decode with 100% fidelity.