What the Base64 tool is for
Base64 turns any data into plain letters, digits and a few symbols, so it can travel where only text is allowed: in email, in JSON, in a data: URL or in an HTTP header. This tool encodes text to Base64 and decodes Base64 back to text, with full support for UTF-8 characters such as ü, ş and emoji. Tick URL-safe for the variant used in web tokens and addresses. Paste a result back in with one click to go the other way. Everything runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
What is Base64 used for?
For sending binary data or special characters through systems that only accept plain text: email attachments, images embedded in HTML or CSS, Basic authentication headers, and tokens such as JWTs.
Is Base64 encryption?
No. It is an encoding that anyone can reverse without a key. If you see a password or key in Base64, treat it as if it were written in plain text.
Why does decoding fail?
The text may contain characters that aren't part of Base64, be cut short, or decode to binary data such as an image rather than text. Remove spaces and line breaks around it and try again.