Free Base64 Encoder & Decoder
Encode text or files into Base64, decode Base64 back into readable text or downloadable files. Everything happens locally in your browser for complete privacy.
No uploads • No tracking • No registration
Click to upload or drag & drop
Any file type is supported
Live Statistics
How It Works
Enter text or upload a file
Type or paste text, or drop any file into the file panel.
Encode or decode instantly
Click Encode or Decode and the conversion runs immediately in your browser.
Copy or download the result
Copy the output to your clipboard or download it as a text or binary file.
Common Uses
data: URIs for fonts, icons and images.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Base64?+
Base64 is a way of representing binary data using only 64 printable ASCII characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + and /). It's commonly used to safely embed binary data inside text-based formats like JSON, XML, HTML and email.
Why is Base64 larger than the original data?+
Base64 groups every 3 bytes of input into 4 output characters, which increases the size by roughly 33%. The tradeoff is that the result is plain text, which is safe to transmit through systems that only handle text.
Is Base64 a form of encryption?+
No. Base64 is an encoding scheme, not encryption. It provides no confidentiality — anyone can decode it instantly. Never use Base64 alone to protect sensitive data.
Can Base64 contain Unicode text?+
Yes. This tool converts your text to UTF-8 bytes before encoding, so Arabic, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, emoji and accented characters all round-trip correctly.
Can I encode images with this tool?+
Yes. Switch to File mode, upload an image, and it will be converted to a Base64 string you can paste into a CSS data URL or an HTML img tag.
Can I decode files back to their original format?+
Yes. Paste a Base64 string in File mode and decode it — you'll be prompted for a filename and the original file will be reconstructed for download.
Does this tool upload my files anywhere?+
No. Everything runs locally in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded, transmitted or stored on any server.
Is Base64 encoding reversible?+
Yes. Base64 is fully reversible — decoding a valid Base64 string always reconstructs the exact original bytes.
Can I use Base64 in URLs?+
Standard Base64 uses characters like + and / that have special meaning in URLs. Enable URL-safe mode to swap them for - and _ so the result can be used safely in URLs and filenames.
What is URL-safe Base64?+
URL-safe Base64 replaces + with - and / with _, avoiding characters that would need to be percent-encoded in a URL. This tool supports encoding and decoding both variants.