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Base32 Encoder / Decoder

Encode text or binary data to Base32, or decode Base32 strings back to text. Uses the RFC 4648 standard alphabet (A–Z, 2–7).

Standard: RFC 4648 Base32  ·  Alphabet: A–Z (uppercase) + digits 2–7  ·  Padding: = characters to reach a multiple of 8

About Base32 Encoder / Decoder

Base32 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme defined in RFC 4648. It represents binary data using 32 printable ASCII characters — the 26 uppercase letters A–Z and the digits 2–7. It is more compact than hexadecimal and more readable than Base64, making it popular in TOTP/2FA secrets, file systems, and encoded identifiers.

When to Use Base32

Base32 is used in TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) secret keys (Google Authenticator, Authy), DNS labels, Onion addresses (Tor), and anywhere a case-insensitive encoding is required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Base64 uses 64 characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, +, /) and is more compact. Base32 uses only 32 characters (A–Z, 2–7) and is case-insensitive, making it safer for use in URLs, DNS, and systems that may convert case. Base32 output is about 60% longer than Base64 for the same input.
Base32 encodes 5 bits per character and processes input in 5-byte (40-bit) blocks. Padding characters (=) are added to align the output to a multiple of 8 characters when the input length is not a multiple of 5.
The digits 0 and 1 are visually similar to the letters O and I, which could cause confusion in manual transcription. RFC 4648 uses digits 2–7 instead to avoid this ambiguity.
No. Base32 is encoding, not encryption. It is fully reversible by anyone without a key. It does not provide confidentiality. Use AES-256 if you need to protect data.

About Base32 Encoder / Decoder

Base32 encodes binary data using 32 ASCII characters (A–Z and 2–7). It is less compact than Base64 but uses only uppercase letters and digits, making it case-insensitive and safe in environments where lowercase letters are problematic — such as DNS labels and authenticator app secrets (TOTP).

How to Use

  1. Type or paste your text in the Input area.
  2. Click Encode to convert text to Base32, or Decode to convert Base32 back to text.
  3. The result appears in the Output area.
  4. Click Copy to copy the output to your clipboard.

How It Works

Encoding: the input text is converted to bytes, then groups of 5 bytes (40 bits) are mapped to 8 Base32 characters (each character representing 5 bits). Padding characters (=) are added to make the output length a multiple of 8.

Decoding: the reverse process — Base32 characters are converted back to their 5-bit values, assembled into bytes, and decoded as UTF-8 text.

Example

Encode "Hello": JBSWY3DP
Decode JBSWY3DP → "Hello"

Frequently Asked Questions

Base64 uses 64 characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, +, /) and is more compact but case-sensitive. Base32 uses only uppercase letters and digits 2–7, making it case-insensitive and suitable for systems that don't preserve case.
Base32 is used in TOTP authenticator secrets (Google Authenticator, Authy), DNS names, file systems that are case-insensitive, and some cryptocurrency address schemes.
No. Base32 is an encoding scheme, not encryption. It is trivially reversible and provides no security. Use it only for encoding, not to protect sensitive data.
No. All encoding and decoding happens in your browser. Your data never leaves your device.