Free tools
Base64 Encode
Free online Base64 encoder — paste any text and instantly get the Base64-encoded output.
Base64 result
Base64 Encode Online
Need to encode text as a Base64 string? Paste any plain text into the field above and click Encode to Base64. The result appears instantly — no page reload, no server round-trip.
What Is Base64?
Base64 is an encoding scheme that converts binary or text data into a string of 64 printable ASCII characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, +, and /). It is commonly used to safely embed binary data — such as images or file contents — inside JSON payloads, HTML, URLs, and email attachments.
Common Uses
- Encoding credentials for HTTP Basic Authentication headers
- Embedding small images as
data:URIs in HTML or CSS - Passing binary data through APIs that only accept text
- Encoding configuration values or secrets in environment variables
How to Use This Tool
- Paste your plain text into the input field.
- Click Encode to Base64.
- Copy the result with the copy button.
Everything runs in your browser — your text is never sent to any server.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Base64 encoding?
Base64 is an encoding scheme that converts binary data into a text string using 64 ASCII characters. It's commonly used to encode data that needs to be stored or transferred over media designed to handle text, such as email, JSON, URLs, or HTML.
Is Base64 encryption?
No, Base64 is not encryption. It is merely an encoding scheme that converts binary data to text and back. Anyone can decode Base64 without a key. Base64 provides no security — use it for data transport, not for protecting sensitive information.
Why does Base64 output end with equals signs?
The equals signs (
=) are padding characters. Base64 works in groups of 3 bytes (24 bits), but if your input isn't divisible by 3, padding is added to make the length work. One equals sign means 2 bytes of padding, two equals signs mean 1 byte of padding.When should I use Base64 encoding?
Common use cases include: embedding small images directly in HTML/CSS as data URIs, encoding binary data for JSON APIs, encoding credentials for Basic HTTP Authentication, transferring data through systems that only handle text, and storing binary data in text-based formats like XML or YAML.
Does Base64 make files larger?
Yes. Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33%. Every 3 bytes of binary data become 4 bytes of Base64 text. This is the trade-off for making binary data safely transportable through text-only systems.
Is this tool secure?
Yes. All encoding happens in your browser. Your data is never sent to any server. However, remember that Base64 itself is not secure — it's encoding, not encryption. Anyone can decode the output.