Boneyard Tools

Base64URL Encoder and Decoder

Encode text to Base64URL or decode it back. Base64URL is the URL-safe variant from RFC 4648: it swaps the standard plus and slash characters for hyphen and underscore and drops the trailing padding, so the result is safe in URLs, filenames and JWT segments.

How to use the Base64URL encoder

  1. Choose Encode to convert text to Base64URL, or Decode to read it back.
  2. Type or paste your input into the box.
  3. Copy the result, which updates as you type.

Examples

URL-safe encoding

<<???>>
PDw_Pz8-Pg

Decoding back to text

aGVsbG8
hello

Frequently asked questions

How is Base64URL different from standard Base64?

Base64URL, defined in RFC 4648 section 5, uses the same encoding but replaces the two characters that are awkward in URLs: plus becomes hyphen and slash becomes underscore. It also usually omits the equals-sign padding. The decoded bytes are identical to standard Base64.

Why does the output have no equals padding?

Padding only pads the final group to a multiple of four characters and carries no extra information, so most Base64URL uses, including JWTs, drop it. This tool encodes without padding and still decodes correctly whether or not padding is present.

Can it handle emoji and accented characters?

Yes. Input is encoded as UTF-8 first, so accents, emoji and other multi-byte characters round-trip exactly. Decoding reverses the process and returns the original text.

What happens if I paste invalid input when decoding?

Decoding accepts only the Base64URL alphabet of letters, digits, hyphen and underscore. If the input contains other characters, such as a plus or slash from standard Base64, or has an impossible length, the tool reports an error instead of guessing.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. Encoding and decoding run entirely in your browser, so whatever you paste never leaves your device.

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