Text Encoding Detector
Auto-detect whether a string is Base64, URL-encoded, hex, or plain text — and decode it.
About Encoding Detector
Takes an unlabeled string of unknown encoding and attempts to identify whether it's Base64, URL-encoded, hex, or another common encoding, then decodes it automatically. Useful when you're handed a string with no context about how it was encoded — pulled from a log file, a URL parameter, an API payload, or a support ticket. Detection isn't always unambiguous, since some strings are technically valid under more than one encoding scheme, so results should be treated as a best-guess starting point.
Why detection can be ambiguous: a string like SGVsbG8 is valid Base64, but a short enough hex or URL-encoded string can occasionally also pass basic format validation without being the "real" encoding. Longer strings are far more reliable to auto-detect than short ones — under ~12 characters, cross-check the result manually. If the decoded output is itself another encoded string (double-encoding is common in URL query parameters and some legacy APIs), run the output back through the tool a second time.
Detects
Base64url (URL-safe)
URL percent-encoding
Hex string (0-9, a-f)
HTML entities (&)
Plain text