Image to Base64 (Data URI)

Image to Base64 is a free tool that runs entirely in your browser, with no data ever sent to a server. Convert an image to text to paste into CSS or HTML, and the other way around.

What an image in Base64 is for

A data URI encodes an image directly in a page's text, with no separate request to a file. Useful for a small logo in an email, an icon embedded in a CSS file, or a favicon defined inline with no external file.

The cost

Base64 encoding represents every group of 3 bytes with 4 characters: the resulting text weighs about 33% more than the original binary file. On a photo of several hundred kilobytes, the page embedding it becomes noticeably heavier than with a separate file, which the browser could have cached independently.

What this tool does not do

This tool does not read HEIC photos (the default on some iPhones): convert them to JPEG from the device first. On a PNG, compression changes the format rather than truly reducing the size, since the browser cannot produce a reduced-palette PNG.

Frequently asked questions

Can I rebuild an image from Base64 text alone, without the data:image/… header?

Yes. Paste the text, choose the image type from the list, then run the rebuild.

Does SVG work too?

An SVG dropped in is treated like a regular bitmap image: it's encoded as is, but the resulting text does not preserve the file's vector nature when read back.

Are my files sent to a server?

No: processing happens entirely in your browser, on your device. No file is ever transmitted to a server, at any point.