Base64 Encoder / Decoder
Quickly encode any text to Base64 or decode Base64 strings back to readable text. Supports full Unicode including emojis. All processing happens locally in your browser — your data never leaves your machine, making it safe for encoding sensitive tokens, API keys, or configuration values.
About Base64 Converter
- Encode — Convert text or binary data to Base64 representation
- Decode — Convert Base64 strings back to readable text
- Unicode — Full support for Unicode characters including emojis
- All processing happens locally in your browser — nothing is sent to any server
How to Use
- 1
Choose Mode
Select Encode to convert text to Base64 or Decode to convert Base64 back to text.
- 2
Enter Your Data
Paste or type the text you want to encode, or the Base64 string you want to decode.
- 3
Convert and Copy
Click the action button to process your input. Use the copy button or swap button to continue working with the result.
Examples by Niche
Encode "username:password" to Base64 for HTTP Basic Auth headers: dXNlcm5hbWU6cGFzc3dvcmQ=
Encode small images or SVGs to Base64 for embedding directly in HTML/CSS as data URIs
Decode the payload section of a JWT token to inspect its claims without a library
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Base64 encoding?
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data using 64 ASCII characters. It is commonly used to embed binary data in text-based formats like JSON, XML, HTML, and email.
Is Base64 encoding the same as encryption?
No. Base64 is an encoding scheme, not encryption. Anyone can decode a Base64 string. It should never be used to protect sensitive data — use proper encryption instead.
Does this tool support Unicode characters?
Yes, this tool fully supports Unicode characters including emojis, accented characters, and CJK characters. It handles the UTF-8 conversion automatically.
Why does Base64 increase the size of my data?
Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33% because it represents every 3 bytes of binary data as 4 ASCII characters. This overhead is the tradeoff for being able to safely embed binary data in text-based formats like JSON, XML, and email.
Is Base64 encryption?
No, Base64 is encoding, not encryption. It can be easily decoded.
When to use Base64?
Email attachments, data URIs, JSON web tokens (JWTs), and storing binary data in databases.
What is the difference between encode and decode?
Encoding converts data to Base64 format. Decoding converts it back to original.
Is Base64 safe for URLs?
Standard Base64 uses + and / which need URL encoding. Use Base64URL variant for URLs.
Does Base64 reduce size?
No, Base64 increases size by approximately 33% due to padding.
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