Question 1

How do I convert Base64 to hexadecimal?

Accepted Answer

Base64 to hex conversion works in two steps: first, the Base64 string is decoded to raw bytes. Then, each byte is converted to its two-digit hexadecimal representation. For example, the Base64 string "SGVsbG8=" decodes to "Hello", which in hex is "48656c6c6f".

Question 2

Why convert between Base64 and hex?

Accepted Answer

Base64 and hex serve different purposes. Hex is more readable for developers debugging binary data, viewing memory dumps, or working with cryptographic hashes. Base64 is more space-efficient and commonly used in data URIs, email encoding, and API payloads. Converting between them helps when working across different systems.

Question 3

What is the size difference between Base64 and hex?

Accepted Answer

Hex encoding uses 2 characters per byte (200% of original size), while Base64 uses 4 characters per 3 bytes (~133% of original size). So Base64 is about 33% smaller than hex for the same data. For example, 10 bytes of data becomes 20 hex characters but only ~14 Base64 characters.

Format	Character Set	Size Ratio	Common Use Cases
Hexadecimal	0-9, a-f (16 chars)	2 chars per byte (200%)	Colors, memory dumps, crypto hashes
Base64	A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, / (64 chars)	4 chars per 3 bytes (~133%)	Data URIs, email, API payloads

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