Input Text
Base64 Output
What is Base64 Encoding?
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format. It's commonly used to encode data that needs to be stored and transferred over media designed to deal with text.
Example
Original: Hello World
Encoded: SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=
Common Use Cases
- Embedding images in HTML/CSS (data URLs)
- Encoding binary data in JSON or XML
- HTTP Basic Authentication
- Email attachments (MIME encoding)
- Storing binary data in databases or configuration files
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Base64 encoding?
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format. It uses 64 different characters to represent binary data, ensuring safe transmission over text-based protocols.
Why is Base64 used?
Base64 encoding is used to safely transmit binary data over systems designed to handle text, such as email, URLs, and configuration files. It ensures that the data won't be corrupted by systems that might interpret certain byte sequences incorrectly.
Is Base64 encoding secure?
Base64 is not encryption - it's just encoding. Anyone can decode Base64 data easily. It doesn't provide security or confidentiality; it's only used for safe data transmission and storage.
How does Base64 affect data size?
Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33% because it represents 3 bytes of binary data as 4 ASCII characters. This is the trade-off for ensuring safe transmission.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Base64 encoding?
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format. It uses 64 different characters to represent binary data, ensuring safe transmission over text-based protocols.
Why is Base64 used?
Base64 encoding is used to safely transmit binary data over systems designed to handle text, such as email, URLs, and configuration files. It ensures that the data won't be corrupted by systems that might interpret certain byte sequences incorrectly.
Is Base64 encoding secure?
Base64 is not encryption - it's just encoding. Anyone can decode Base64 data easily. It doesn't provide security or confidentiality; it's only used for safe data transmission and storage.
How does Base64 affect data size?
Base64 encoding increases data size by approximately 33% because it represents 3 bytes of binary data as 4 ASCII characters. This is the trade-off for ensuring safe transmission.