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.