Base64 guide

What is Base64?

Base64 is an encoding scheme that represents data with 64 safe ASCII characters. It is designed to make binary data easier to carry through systems that expect ordinary text.

Where Base64 is used

You may see Base64 in data URLs, authentication headers, email attachments, API payloads, image previews, and configuration values. The familiar equals signs at the end are padding that helps the encoded value align to four-character groups.

Encoding versus encryption

Encoding changes a format for compatibility; it does not make the information secret. Base64 values are easy to reverse, so sensitive data should be protected with proper encryption and access controls instead.