What is Base64?

Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding.

Base64 is commonly used when there is a need to encode binary data that needs to be stored and transferred over media that are designed to deal with textual data. This is to ensure that the data remains intact without modification during transport.

Common Use Cases

• Encoding data in URLs or query parameters
• Embedding small images or files in HTML/CSS/JavaScript
• Transferring binary data over protocols that only support text
• Storing binary data in databases that do not support binary storage
• Encoding email attachments in MIME format