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Base64 encoder and decoder
Turn text into Base64 or read what a Base64 string says. It handles accents, emoji and the URL-safe alphabet, and works in your browser: what you paste is never sent anywhere.
What Base64 is
Base64 writes any data with 64 safe characters: letters, digits, + and /. It exists so that files and unusual characters survive systems built for plain text. Email attachments, images embedded in web pages, login tokens and many configuration files are Base64. It makes data about a third longer.
Base64 is not encryption
Anyone can decode Base64; there is no key. A password or token in Base64 is as exposed as one in plain text. To keep text secret, encrypt it with a password instead.
Why it shows up in scams and malware
Because it hides what something says from a quick look. Phishing emails put the real address of a link in Base64, and malicious scripts carry their commands in it so that filters and readers don't see them. If a message or a web page asks you to paste a long Base64 string into Terminal, don't. Decode it here first and read what it would run.
Questions about Base64
No. The encoding and decoding are done by your browser on this page. Still, treat real passwords and tokens with care wherever you paste them.
A variant that uses - and _ instead of + and /, and usually drops the = signs at the end, so the result can go in a web address or a file name. Web tokens (JWT) use it. The decoder accepts both variants.
The Base64 holds a file, such as an image or a compressed archive, or encrypted data, not readable text. The tool then shows its size and its first bytes instead.
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