Guides5 min read
Base64 vs Hex: Size, Readability, When to Use
Base64 vs hex compared: size overhead (33% vs 100%), readability, a worked UTF-8 example, and a simple rule for which encoding to use.
Base64 encode & decode
Encode text to Base64, or decode Base64 back to text, live as you type. Free, private — nothing leaves your device.
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Base640 characters
Your text encoded as Base64 will appear here.Everything you need to work with Base64
Live encode and decode
The result updates instantly as you type — no button to click, no page reload.
One-click swap
Swap the output back into the input and flip the mode to check your work or reverse a conversion.
Full UTF-8 support
Emoji, accented letters, and non-Latin scripts encode and decode correctly.
Lenient Base64 parsing
Paste line-wrapped, URL-safe, unpadded, or data-URI Base64 — it's cleaned up automatically before decoding.
100% private
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or paste is uploaded or stored.
Copy or download
Grab the result to your clipboard, or download it as a .txt file.
Encode and decode Base64 in three steps
- 1
Type or paste your text or Base64
Switch to "Text → Base64" to encode, or "Base64 → Text" to decode, then type or paste into the input box.
- 2
Read the result instantly
The conversion updates live as you type — standard Base64 one way, decoded UTF-8 text the other.
- 3
Copy, download, or swap
Grab the result with one click, download it as a .txt file, or hit swap to convert it right back and check your work.
Built for developers, students, and quick checks
Base64 shows up anywhere binary or special-character data has to travel as plain text — APIs, auth headers, config files, and email. PixelTools encodes and decodes it instantly, with no upload and no account needed.
Debugging API payloads
Decode a Base64 field from a JSON response, log line, or webhook to see what it actually contains.
Reading auth headers
Check what's inside a Basic auth header or an encoded config value without installing a CLI tool.
Preparing config values
Encode a string for a Kubernetes secret, environment variable, or test fixture.
Learning encoding basics
See exactly how text becomes Base64 and back — a common early topic in web and networking courses.
Frequently asked questions
What is Base64?
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Base64 is a way of writing any data using only 64 safe characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + and /). It exists so binary data or text with special characters can travel through systems that only handle plain text, such as email, JSON, and URLs.
Is Base64 encryption?
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No. Base64 is an encoding, not encryption — anyone can decode it instantly, with this tool or any other. Never use it to hide passwords or secrets.
Why does my Base64 fail to decode?
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Usually it contains a character outside the Base64 alphabet, or it was cut off when copied. Line breaks, spaces, and missing = padding are handled automatically, but a truncated string can't be guessed. If it's valid Base64 for a file such as an image, it won't decode to readable text.
Does this handle emoji and accented characters?
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Yes. Text is encoded as UTF-8 before Base64, so emoji, accented letters, and non-Latin scripts round-trip correctly. Plain browser btoa() would fail on them.
Can I decode URL-safe Base64 or a data URI?
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Yes. The decoder accepts the URL-safe alphabet (- and _ instead of + and /), optional missing padding, and strips a leading "data:...;base64," prefix.
Why does Base64 make data bigger?
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Every 3 bytes of input become 4 characters of output, so Base64 is about 33% larger than the original. That's the trade-off for being text-safe.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
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No. Everything runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript — nothing you type or paste is sent to a server.
Try the Base64 tool now
Free, no account needed.