What Is Base64 Encoding?

Base64 is a way of representing arbitrary binary data (like an image or file) as plain text, using only 64 printable characters — needed because some systems (like JSON or email) can only safely carry text, not raw binary bytes.

Base64 text shows up in data URIs, email attachments, and API payloads. Here's what it actually does, and why it makes files larger, not smaller.