Encode text to Base64 or decode Base64 back to plain text
The result updates as you type.
Base64 is an encoding, not encryption. Anyone can decode it.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or upload is sent to us or stored.
Results are for general guidance. Please check anything important before relying on it. Terms of use
How to Use
- Choose Encode or Decode at the top.
- To encode, type or paste your text and the Base64 appears as you type. Turn on URL-safe for tokens and links. To encode a file (an image or PDF up to 5 MB), use the file box, and turn on the data URI option if it's going into HTML or CSS.
- To decode, paste a Base64 string or a data: URI. Spaces, line breaks and missing = padding are fine. If it isn't valid, the message tells you which character is wrong.
- Click Copy, download the result, or use Decode it back to check it. If the decoded data is a file such as a PNG or PDF, the tool says so and lets you download it.
What is Base64?
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding. It writes any data using only 64 printable ASCII characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, + and /). It isn't encryption. It's a way to turn binary data into plain text so it can travel safely through channels built for text. This Base64 encoder converts text to Base64 and decodes it back.
Where you'll run into it
- API authentication: HTTP Basic Auth sends credentials as a Base64-encoded "username:password".
- Email attachments: MIME encodes binary attachments in Base64 so they can go through text-based email protocols.
- Images in HTML/CSS: small images can be inlined as
data:image/png;base64,...URIs. - JWT tokens: JSON Web Tokens use Base64URL encoding for the header and payload.
- Environment variables: binary secrets and certificates are often Base64-encoded before they go into .env files.
Base64 vs encryption
Base64 is not secure. Anyone can decode a Base64 string in a second. Don't use it to "hide" passwords or sensitive data. It's for encoding, not for security.