Windows
Linux
Text Processing
Windows type file | clip (base64 — no equiv) equivalent in Linux
Converts binary data to Base64 text encoding and back. Common in APIs, certificates, and email attachments.
Windows
→
type file | clip (base64 — no equiv)
Linux equivalents
base64
base64
base64
Overview
What this command does
Converts binary data to Base64 text encoding and back. Common in APIs, certificates, and email attachments.
Migration tip: Base64 encoding makes binary data safe to transmit as text. The output is about 33% larger than the input. Common in JWT tokens, embedding images in HTML, and API authentication headers.
Practical tasks
Common use cases
Encode or decode Base64
Converts binary data to Base64 text encoding and back. Common in APIs, certificates, and email attachments.
base64 file
Encode file to Base64
base64 -d file.b64
Decode Base64 back to binary
echo 'text' | base64
Encode a string
Ready to run
Copyable Linux commands
Review paths, device names, package names and permissions before running any command.
base64 image.png > image.b64
echo -n 'Hello World' | base64
echo 'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=' | base64 -d
Walkthrough
Examples with explanations
# No Windows CMD equivalent (PowerShell has it)
# Encode a file:
base64 image.png > image.b64
# Encode a string:
echo -n 'Hello World' | base64
SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=
# Decode:
echo 'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=' | base64 -dReference
Common options and variations
| Command or option | Use |
|---|---|
base64 file | Encode file to Base64 |
base64 -d file.b64 | Decode Base64 back to binary |
echo 'text' | base64 | Encode a string |
echo 'dGV4dA==' | base64 -d | Decode a Base64 string |
Distro differences
Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch
This command is the same on Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux when the relevant tool is installed.
| Distribution | Package manager / base | Equivalent command | Difference to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian/Ubuntu | same command | base64 |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Fedora | same command | base64 |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Arch | same command | base64 |
Same command on this distribution. |
Keep learning