Image to Base64 Converter

What is image to base64 converter?

A data URL stores an image inside text, so it can sit directly in HTML, CSS or JSON with no separate file request. This helps with tiny icons, email templates and single file demos.

Base64 makes the data about one third larger, so it suits small images only.

How to use the image to base64 converter

1. Choose an image file.
2. Press Convert.
3. Copy the data URL, the HTML tag or the CSS rule.

How the image to base64 converter works

The file is read with the browser's FileReader and encoded as a data URL that begins with data:image and the file type, followed by the Base64 text.

Worked example

Common uses of the image to base64 converter

• Embedding a small icon in a CSS file to save a request.
• Putting an image inside an HTML email or single file page.
• Sending a small image as part of a JSON API request.
• Testing how an image looks as a data URL.
• Storing tiny placeholders for lazy loading.

Tips and common mistakes

Keep images under about 10 KB for inline use. Larger ones are better as separate cached files.

Inline images cannot be cached on their own, so repeated use on many pages wastes bandwidth.

Background: what to know before you rely on it

A data URL has the form data colon, the media type, the word base64, a comma and the encoded data. Browsers treat it like any image address. The main benefit is one less network request, which helped speed before modern HTTP when every request was costly. Today the trade off is usually poor for large files, since Base64 adds one third to the size, the data cannot be cached separately and it bloats the HTML or CSS. Inline only very small images, such as icons under a few kilobytes or low quality blurred placeholders. For SVG, using the raw SVG text in the page is often smaller than Base64.

Private, free and fast

This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you type or choose is not uploaded to a server and is not saved after you close the page, which keeps it fast and private. It is free to use as often as you like. See more in all image tools, or browse the full list of tools.

Related tools

Results are for information and education. For legal, financial, medical or security decisions, check with a qualified professional. Keep your original image files.