Hex ↔ UTF-8 ↔ Base64 Converter
Convert between Hex, UTF-8, and Base64 instantly in your browser. Ideal for developers, cryptographers, and API debugging, this tool runs 100% client-side — ensuring privacy, speed, and accuracy for encoding and decoding tasks.
Hex ↔ UTF-8 ↔ Base64 Converter
Hex ↔ UTF-8 ↔ Base64 FAQ
Why do developers use Hex encoding?
Hex is human-readable while still representing raw binary data precisely. It's widely used in cryptography, debugging, and low-level computing.
Is Base64 encryption?
No. Base64 is not encryption, it's just encoding. It provides no secrecy—anyone can decode it back to the original data.
Why does Base64 increase data size?
Base64 expands data by ~33% because every 3 bytes of input become 4 ASCII characters.
Can UTF-8, Hex, and Base64 be reversed?
Yes. UTF-8, Hex, and Base64 are all reversible to their original binary form.
What are common uses of Base64?
Embedding images in HTML/CSS, transmitting binary in JSON, encoding email attachments (MIME), and storing cryptographic material.
Which is better for cryptography, Hex or Base64?
Both are safe. Hex is more human-readable, while Base64 is more compact for transmission.
Does UTF-8 always use 1 byte per character?
No. UTF-8 is variable-length: ASCII = 1 byte, other scripts up to 4 bytes.
What is Hex, UTF-8, and Base64?
Hex, UTF-8, and Base64 are three of the most widely used encoding systems in modern computing. Each plays a unique role, but together they form the backbone of how raw binary data is stored, transmitted, and represented in a human-readable format. Developers, cryptographers, and system engineers frequently need to convert between these formats when working with raw data, cryptographic functions, APIs, and storage systems.
UTF-8 — Universal Text Encoding
UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8-bit) is the default encoding for the web and nearly every modern operating system. It represents characters in the Unicode standard using a variable-length encoding scheme where each character may take between 1 and 4 bytes. Importantly, UTF-8 is backward-compatible with ASCII, which makes it ideal for international applications, multilingual systems, and web content.
- 1 byte for ASCII characters (e.g., English letters).
- 2–3 bytes for most non-Latin alphabets (e.g., Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic).
- 4 bytes for emojis, rare symbols, and certain Asian scripts.
Virtually all databases, APIs, and programming languages rely on UTF-8 for text storage and communication, making it the most important text encoding standard today.
Hexadecimal (Hex) Encoding
Hexadecimal (Hex) is a base-16 representation of binary data. It uses the characters 0–9 and A–F, where two hex characters = one byte. Hex encoding is extremely popular in cryptography, networking, debugging, and programming.
- Cryptography: SHA-256 digests are 64-character hex strings.
- Networking: IPv6 addresses are written in hex form.
- Programming: Memory addresses and binary dumps use hex.
Hex is compact, precise, and readable to developers, but less efficient than Base64 for storage and transmission.
Base64 Encoding
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding system that uses 64 ASCII characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, +, /) and the = sign for padding. Its main purpose is to make binary data safe for inclusion in text-based environments such as JSON, XML, HTML, or email.
- Embedding images in HTML or CSS.
- Encoding API keys, credentials, or secrets.
- Transmitting cryptographic material such as certificates or public keys.
While highly practical, Base64 expands data size by ~33%, so it should not be used for storage efficiency — it’s purely for safe transmission.
Comparison Table
| Encoding | Main Use | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTF-8 | Text & multilingual data | Universal, efficient, ASCII-compatible | Not suitable for binary |
| Hex | Cryptography, debugging | Exact, human-readable | Less efficient size |
| Base64 | Binary in text systems | Safe for JSON/HTML/email | +33% size increase |
Common Conversion Scenarios
- Convert UTF-8 text into Hex or Base64 for safe transmission.
- Transform a Hex cryptographic hash into Base64 for JWTs.
- Decode Base64-encoded keys or certs into UTF-8 or Hex.
About This Tool
This converter makes switching between UTF-8, Hex, and Base64 effortless. All operations run instantly in your browser, with no server processing. The interface supports:
- Real-time conversion updates.
- Copy-to-clipboard for easy workflow.
- Developer-friendly formatting for debugging.
Whether you’re a web developer working with APIs, a blockchain engineer handling cryptographic values, or simply troubleshooting encoding issues, this tool is a must-have in your toolkit.