All tools · 🔤 Encode / Decode
🔤 Base64 Encoder / Decoder
Base64 is a way to represent arbitrary binary data as ASCII text. Useful for embedding images in CSS, passing binary data through JSON APIs, or encoding HTTP Basic Auth credentials. This tool encodes/decodes in both directions with full Unicode support.
Examples
Hello, World!SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ==MXZ3IGlzIGNvb2w=1vw is coolcafé ☕Y2Fmw6kg4piVWe encode as UTF-8 bytes before Base64 so multibyte characters work correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Base64 encryption?
No. Base64 is encoding, not encryption — anyone can decode it instantly. It is only meant to make binary data safe for text-based channels (URLs, JSON, email).
Why does Base64 make data bigger?
Base64 uses 4 ASCII characters to represent every 3 bytes of binary data, so encoded output is roughly 33% larger than the original.
What is the padding (= sign) at the end?
When the input is not a multiple of 3 bytes, Base64 pads with one or two = characters so the output length is a multiple of 4.
Can I encode a file?
For images specifically, use our Image to Base64 tool which produces a data URL. This tool is for plain text input.
What is the URL-safe variant?
URL-safe Base64 replaces + with - and / with _ so the output can be put in URLs without encoding. This tool uses standard Base64; if you need URL-safe, just replace those two characters after.
About this tool
Base64 Encoder / Decoder runs entirely in your browser using standard Web APIs. No data is sent to any server. The source for this tool is in our public GitHub repository.
Related tools
- 🔗 URL Encoder / Decoder — Percent-encode URL components or decode an encoded URL back to plain text.
- 🔢 Hex ↔ ASCII / Text — Convert text to hexadecimal byte sequence and back. UTF-8 aware.
- 🖼️ Image to Base64 — Convert any image (PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WebP) to a Base64 data URL.
Why this tool
vs typical free web-tool sites
| 1vw | Typical free site | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Signup required | No | Often (for premium features) |
| Ads inside the tool | No | Yes (banner + video) |
| Data sent to server | No (browser-only) | Yes (inputs analyzed for ads) |
| Total tools | 96 | Often <20 or scattered across sites |
| Bookmarkable URL per tool | Yes | Mixed |
| Loads in under 1s | Yes (static) | Often slow (ad tracking) |
| Multilingual | EN / ES / PT / FR / DE | Usually EN only |
| Open source | Yes | No |