About This Tool

A Data URI embeds data directly inside a URL using thedata: scheme. These URIs often contain Base64-encoded or URL-encoded content. This tool extracts the encoded payload, detects its format, and converts it into readable UTF-8 text entirely within your browser.

It supports both Base64 and percent-encoded Data URIs and leverages modern browser APIs such as TextDecoder for accurate UTF-8 interpretation.

Key Benefits of Using This Tool

• 100% local processing - your data never leaves your device
• No file uploads, no server-side logs, no tracking
• Instant decoding with zero latency
• Handles Base64 and URL-encoded Data URIs automatically
• Works across desktop and mobile browsers globally

Features

• Automatic format detection
• Real-time decoding
• Error detection for malformed Data URIs
• Character length indicators
• Responsive, mobile-friendly UI
• Lightweight and performance-optimized

Use Cases

• Debugging embedded images or text in HTML/CSS
• Inspecting Base64-encoded API responses
• Extracting inline SVG or JSON from Data URIs
• Security analysis and reverse engineering tasks
• Learning how browser encoding mechanisms work

Historical Context

The Data URI scheme was formalized in RFC 2397 in 1998 to allow small files to be embedded directly within HTML or CSS. This eliminated additional HTTP requests and improved performance in early web architectures.

Over time, Data URIs became widely used for embedding icons, fonts, and inline assets. With the growth of modern web applications, tools that decode and inspect these URIs have become essential for developers and security professionals.

Fun Fact

Before HTTP/2 introduced multiplexing, developers often embedded small images as Data URIs to reduce request overhead and speed up page loads. While modern protocols reduced that necessity, Data URIs remain a powerful technique for embedding self-contained content.