how does utf-8 text get handled?

your text is first converted to utf-8 bytes with the browser's TextEncoder before any encoding happens. that means emoji, accents and non-latin scripts come out correct on both sides - encode here, decode anywhere and the original characters come back intact.

what is the base32 alphabet used for?

this tool uses the rfc4648 alphabet: uppercase letters a-z plus the digits 2-7, padded with = signs like pgp fingerprints and 2fa secrets use. it skips 0, 1, 8 and 9 because they are easy to confuse with o, i/l and b when read out loud or copied by hand.

when do i need hex instead of base64?

hex shows every byte as two characters 0-9 / a-f. it is the format you see sha-256 checksums and pgp fingerprints in. use it to compare hashes or read raw bytes; use base64 when binary data has to travel through something that only accepts text.

url-encoding vs base64 - which one do i need?

url-encoding only escapes characters that break urls (like ?, &, = and spaces) while keeping readable text readable. base64 rewrites everything into a safe alphabet but makes it unreadable. fixing a broken link needs url-encoding; hiding binary data inside a header or a json field needs base64.

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text converter

the quick conversions people need constantly when dealing with pgp armor, hashes and links: plain text to base64, hex, base32 or url-encoding - and back again. everything runs locally in your browser, nothing you paste ever leaves this page. with javascript off the forms post to our server instead, where conversions run once in memory - never stored or logged.

good to know

how is utf-8 handled?: text is converted to utf-8 bytes with the browser's TextEncoder before encoding. emoji, accents and non-latin scripts survive a round trip perfectly - decode what you encoded and you get the exact same characters back.
what is each format for?: base64 turns any bytes into copy-paste-safe text - that is what pgp armored blocks are wrapped in, plus email attachments and data urls. hex spells out each byte as two characters - the format of sha-256 checksums and pgp fingerprints. base32 is base64's hand-proofread cousin (no 0/1/8/9) - pgp fingerprints, tor onion addresses and 2fa secrets live here. url-encoding only escapes the characters that would break a link.
what is the base32 alphabet for?: this tool uses the standard rfc4648 alphabet: uppercase letters a-z plus digits 2-7, padded with = signs. dropping 0, 1, 8 and 9 avoids mix-ups with o, i, l and b when strings are read aloud or copied by hand. decoding accepts lower case too.
url-encoding vs base64?: url-encoding escapes just the characters that break links (?, &, =, spaces) and keeps the rest readable. base64 rewrites the entire payload into a fixed alphabet, which makes anything safe to put in headers or json - but unreadable. broken link means url-encoding; embedding binary in text usually means base64.