Text ⇄ Base64

What it's for

Convert text to and from Base64, the encoding that turns any data into plain letters and digits so it can travel safely through email, JSON, URLs and configuration files.

For example, when a config file or API response holds a Base64 value, decode it to see what it says, or encode a value before pasting it into a Kubernetes secret or an HTTP header.

How to use it

Paste text or Base64 into the box and choose Encode or Decode. Text is encoded as UTF-8, so accents, emoji and other scripts survive the round trip. Tick URL-safe alphabet to use - and _ and drop the = padding, as JWTs and many URLs do; decoding accepts either alphabet, with or without padding, and ignores spaces and line breaks. Use as input moves the result back into the box so you can run it again.

Encoding switches to another of the Base-N family (remembered): Base32 (RFC 4648, as in TOTP secrets), Base58 (Bitcoin addresses, IPFS), Ascii85 (PDF and PostScript, with or without its <~ ~> brackets), Base45 (EU health-certificate QR codes), Base100 (each byte an emoji) and a big integer (the bytes as one decimal number, as in RSA puzzles). Choose a file, or drop one on the page, to encode a file of any type; when what you decode isn’t text, Save as a file downloads the bytes.

Example

Paste this and choose Decode:

SGVsbG8sIHdvcmxkIQ==

The result is Hello, world!. Going the other way, encoding Café ☕ gives Q2Fmw6kg4piV.

Good to know

Base64 is an encoding, not encryption: anyone can decode it, so it doesn’t hide secrets. If the data decodes to bytes that aren’t text, such as an image, the tool says so and names the file type if it can; use Base64 → Image to see pictures. Files are read into memory, so very large ones may be slow.