Base64 Encoder / Decoder (text) - MacigHub

Encode any plain text string to Base64 or decode Base64 back to text. Live, with custom character support.

Popular tools: Base64 · JSON Diff · UUID · QR Code · Regex · Password

About this tool

What is Base64?

Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding that represents arbitrary bytes with 64 printable ASCII characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, + and /, with = as padding). It is used wherever raw bytes cannot travel safely: email attachments (MIME), data URIs in HTML/CSS, JSON payloads, and HTTP basic-auth headers.

How to use this tool

Paste or type text in the input box — encoding starts automatically.
Switch direction to decode a Base64 string back to readable text.
Use the file variant for images, PDFs or other binary files.

Examples

Hello encodes to SGVsbG8=.
A 1×1 red PNG pixel becomes a long string you can paste into a data:image/png;base64,… URI.
Check the trailing = padding: one = means the input length mod 3 was 2, two means it was 1.

Important limitations

Base64 is not encryption. Anyone can decode it — never use it to hide secrets or passwords.
Encoded output is about 33% larger than the input, so it is wasteful for large files.
There are two common alphabets: standard (+/) and URL-safe (-_). Mixing them breaks decoding.

Privacy

Encoding and decoding happen entirely in your browser with JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device — nothing is uploaded, stored, or logged.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my output end with =?

The = characters are padding. Base64 works in 3-byte groups; padding fills the last group when the input length is not a multiple of 3.

Is Base64 secure?

No. It is an encoding, not encryption. It only changes representation, so treat encoded secrets as plain text.

What is URL-safe Base64?

A variant that replaces + with - and / with _ so the output survives inside URLs without percent-encoding.