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How to Decode Base64 Strings With Google Chrome

Decode Base64 strings with Chrome?

Surprised? But yes, this is totally possible. Not just “possible” it is extremely easily possible! Copy-paste the Base64 encoded string to your Omnibox (address bar) along with a small piece of code, voila! you have it decoded in front of you.

Before we start, for those who are wondering what  Base64 encoding is, here is a small intro from Wikipedia

Base64 is a group of similar encoding schemes that represent binary data in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. The Base64 term originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding.

Base64 encoding schemes are commonly used when there is a need to encode binary data that need to be stored and transferred over media that are designed to deal with textual data. This is to ensure that the data remain intact without modification during transport. Base64 is commonly used in a number of applications including email via MIME, and storing complex data in XML.

How To Decode Base64 Strings With Google Chrome

Open a new tab
Paste data:text/plain;base64, and append your base64 string

Here is an example     data:text/plain;base64,SGV5IGd1eXMhIEhvcGUgeW91J3JlIGRvaW5nIHdlbGwu

This works on Safari and Firefox as well.

Thanks François Beaufort for this brilliant tip.

In

3 responses to “How to Decode Base64 Strings With Google Chrome”

  1. mzzt
    Dan

    There’s also the atob function. Open console and type:

    atob(“SGV5IGd1eXMhIEhvcGUgeW91J3JlIGRvaW5nIHdlbGwu”)

    to get:

    Hey guys! Hope you’re doing well.

    There is also a btoa function, of course.

    Encoding data uris in base64 is common when you are embedding a binary file format such as an image. If you inspect internal chrome pages such as the Settings page you will find them all over.

    Reply
    1. Dinsan – Bangalore, India – Digital Minimalist & Content Developer. Drinks Tea and writes Stuff (mostly about Chromebooks). My views are mostly copied from others.
      Dinu

      thanks Dan!
      Do you think you can come up with a list of Chrome features or extensions for developers ? (I assume you are one, reading your comments) ..

      Reply
  2. GAP

    one thing for sure: you don’t have a dev background and don’t know wtf is base64 etc.

    This thing is pretty old, and almost all browsers can do that. pretty poor guy.

    Reply

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