Question 1

Is Base64 encryption?

Accepted Answer

No. Base64 is an encoding, not encryption. Anyone can decode Base64 back to the original data.

Question 2

Why does padding appear as equals signs?

Accepted Answer

Padding is used so the encoded output length becomes a multiple of four characters. Padding depends on input byte length.

Question 3

Can Base64 represent any data?

Accepted Answer

Yes for bytes. For text, encoding depends on the character encoding used before Base64, such as UTF-8.

Base64 Encode/Decode Calculator

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