Base64 & URL Encoder
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Base64 and URL Encoding
What is Base64 encoding?
Base64 is an encoding system that converts binary data into an ASCII text string using 64 characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /). It is commonly used to transmit binary data through text channels such as email (MIME), URLs and JSON. Encoding increases data size by about 33%.
What is the difference between Base64 and URL Encoding?
Base64 converts any binary data into ASCII text and is used to embed files or binary data in text. URL Encoding (percent-encoding) replaces special characters in URLs with %XX sequences to make them safe in query strings and URL parameters. They are complementary: Base64 for binary data, URL Encoding for special characters in URLs.
Is Base64 encoding a form of encryption?
No, Base64 is NOT encryption. It is a reversible encoding that anyone can decode without a key. It offers no security. If you need to protect sensitive data, use encryption algorithms like AES or RSA. Base64 is only for transporting binary data in text format.
Does this tool support Unicode characters?
Yes, the tool correctly handles Unicode characters (emoji, accented characters, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) thanks to the use of TextEncoder/TextDecoder. Characters are first converted to UTF-8 before Base64 encoding, ensuring correct subsequent decoding.
Does Base64 encoding protect data?
Base64 encoding is not encryption: anyone can bring the string back to the original text with no key. Protecting confidential data takes a cipher such as AES or RSA.
Does Base64 handle accents and emoji?
Yes. The text is converted to UTF-8 before encoding, so accented letters, emoji and non-Latin alphabets come back identical when the Base64 string is decoded.
Does my data stay private?
Yes, and not because we promise it: this tool runs entirely inside your browser. What you type or upload never leaves your device, so it never reaches a server of ours and there is nothing we could keep, read or lose. You can check it yourself: open the page, disconnect from the internet, and the tool keeps working.
Do you store what I enter?
No. There is no database behind this tool: we do not store your files, your text or your results. When you close the tab nothing is left — not here with us, because it never arrived, and not anywhere else.
Do you profile me? Are you GDPR compliant?
We do not profile you: there is no account to create, we never ask for your email to use a tool, and we keep no profile of what you do. We are an Italian company and we work under the GDPR and the other European rules, with the privacy notice and the consent request in plain sight. One thing we say in full rather than hiding it behind a slogan: the ads on the page are Google's, and Google may use cookies to personalise them. You decide from the consent banner: if you say no the ads stay, but they are not personalised, and the tool works exactly the same.
If it is free, how do you make money?
From the ads on the page, and that is all. We do not sell your data, there is no hidden paid plan, there is no limit that eventually asks for your card, and you do not have to sign up. The ads pay for the servers and for the time we spend writing the tools: that is how we can keep them open to everyone.