Base64 Encoder/Decoder
Encode plain text into Base64, or decode a Base64 string back into readable text.
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What is Base64?
Base64 is a way of representing binary or text data using only 64 printable ASCII characters. It's commonly used to embed data inside JSON, URLs, email attachments, and data URIs, since those formats can't safely carry raw binary bytes. Encoding doesn't compress or encrypt data — it just changes its representation so it survives systems that only handle plain text.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Base64 encryption?
- No. Base64 is reversible by design — anyone can decode it back to the original text. Don't use it to hide sensitive data.
- Why does decoding sometimes fail?
- Base64 strings must be a valid length and only contain Base64 alphabet characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /, and = padding). Extra whitespace or truncated strings will fail to decode.
- Does this handle Unicode text?
- Yes — this tool encodes UTF-8 text correctly, so emoji and non-English characters round-trip without corruption.