Base64 encoder and decoder (UTF-8 safe)
Encode text to Base64 or decode it back. Handles emoji, accents and any other non-ASCII text correctly, which many online encoders do not.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
How to use
- Choose encode or decode. The labels swap so it is always clear which side is which.
- Paste your text. Conversion is instant. Whitespace and line breaks in Base64 input are ignored.
- Adjust the variant if needed. URL-safe output swaps + and / for - and _. Padding can be dropped, and lines wrapped at 76 characters for MIME.
Questions
Why do other Base64 tools break on emoji?
Because they call btoa() directly, which throws on any character above U+00FF. Text has to be converted to UTF-8 bytes first. This tool does that, so 🌍 and é survive a round trip intact.
What is URL-safe Base64?
A variant from RFC 4648 that replaces + with - and / with _, so the result can go in a URL or filename without further escaping. Padding = signs are often dropped too. This tool decodes both variants automatically.
Is Base64 encryption?
No, and this matters. Base64 is an encoding — trivially reversible by anyone. It hides nothing. Never use it to protect a password, token or personal data.
Why is the encoded version bigger?
Base64 represents 3 bytes as 4 characters, so output is about 33% larger than the input. That is the cost of making binary data safe to put in text.