Base64 Encoding in Python

Learn Base64 encoding and decoding in Python using the base64 module. Handle strings, bytes, and files.

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Python's base64 module provides simple functions for encoding and decoding Base64 data.

Basic Encoding/Decoding

import base64; base64.b64encode(b"hello") to encode, base64.b64decode(encoded) to decode. Remember to use bytes, not strings.

Encoding Files

Read file in binary mode: with open("file", "rb") as f: encoded = base64.b64encode(f.read())

URL-Safe Base64

Use base64.urlsafe_b64encode() for URL-safe encoding, which replaces + with - and / with _ for use in URLs.

Summary

Verify your Python Base64 output with our online encoder/decoder.