Skip to main content
ToolsHub

Base64 Payload Extractor

Scan any payload for hidden base64 or data URI artifacts, view their MIME type and size, and download each one with a single click.

Updated

Files never leave your browser

All scanning and extraction runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to any server.

How to use Base64 Payload Extractor

The Base64 Payload Extractor scans any JSON body, HTML source, XML document, or plain text for embedded base64 data URIs and surfaces each one as a named, downloadable artifact. Engineers use it to debug API responses that embed images or files as base64 strings, to audit HTML for inlined resources that should be served from a CDN instead, and to recover assets from exported JSON or database dumps. All scanning is done locally in your browser — large payloads never leave your device.

  1. Paste your JSON payload, HTML source, or any text into the input field.
  2. Optionally enable "Also detect standalone Base64 strings" to catch raw base64 values not wrapped in a data URI.
  3. Click "Scan Payload" to identify all embedded base64 artifacts.
  4. Review each artifact card: it shows the detected MIME type, estimated decoded file size, and a preview for images and text types.
  5. Click the Download button on any artifact card to save the decoded file to your device.

Your data never leaves your device — 100% private processing.

Finding embedded data URIs in JSON and API responses

Modern REST and GraphQL APIs sometimes transmit files as base64-encoded strings inside JSON fields instead of returning a URL. Common patterns include {"avatar":"data:image/png;base64,...","certificate":"data:application/x-pem-file;base64,..."}. Finding and extracting these values manually requires string searching, parsing the MIME type, stripping the prefix, and running atob() — all tedious steps. This extractor automates the whole pipeline: it runs a single regular expression over the text, groups matches by MIME type, builds a Blob for each decoded payload, and presents them all in a list ready for download. It handles arbitrarily deep nesting in JSON, multiple occurrences of the same MIME type, and data URIs spread across minified or pretty-printed text alike.

Typical base64 data URI locations in JSON payloads
ContextField patternTypical MIME type
Profile API"avatar": "data:image/png;base64,..."image/png or image/jpeg
Document API"preview": "data:application/pdf;base64,..."application/pdf
Email API"attachment": "data:application/zip;base64,..."application/zip
Font embedding"font": "data:font/woff2;base64,..."font/woff2
Config export"logo": "data:image/svg+xml;base64,..."image/svg+xml

Standalone Base64 detection and avoiding false positives

With the "detect standalone Base64" option enabled, the extractor also searches for long strings that match the base64 alphabet but are not wrapped in a data URI prefix. This covers raw base64 values in JSON fields like "thumbnail":"iVBORw0KGgo..." and PEM-formatted certificates whose header lines are absent. Because any sufficiently long alphanumeric string could look like base64, this mode can produce false positives — for example, UUIDs, API tokens, or SHA-256 hashes. The extractor mitigates this by requiring a minimum length of 64 characters, which significantly reduces noise without missing real payloads. Enable this option when you know the payload contains raw base64 fields and disable it to keep the results clean when scanning HTML or XML that contains many short alphanumeric strings.

Worked examples

Extract from a profile API response

Inputs: {"avatar":"data:image/png;base64,iVBOR...","bg":"data:image/webp;base64,UklG..."}

Result: 2 artifacts found — image/png (4.2 KB) · image/webp (2.1 KB)

Extract from an HTML email

Inputs: <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGOD..." alt="logo">

Result: 1 artifact — image/gif (1.8 KB), inline preview shown

Glossary

Data URI
An RFC 2397 scheme that embeds file content as data:<mime>;base64,<payload> inside a string.
Artifact
In this tool, a single extracted file decoded from a data URI or standalone base64 string found in the payload.
False positive
A string detected as base64 that is actually a different kind of opaque token — UUID, hash, or API key — not a file payload.
MIME type
A content-type label (e.g. image/png, application/pdf) that identifies how the decoded bytes should be interpreted.
Blob URL
A temporary browser-local URL (blob:...) created from decoded bytes that the browser can use to offer a file download.

Related reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Free · No spam

Get weekly tool tips & updates

New tools, power-user tips, and productivity hacks — delivered free every Friday.

No spam, ever. Unsubscribe with one click.

Why use Base64 Payload Extractor?

  • Instantly locate all data:*;base64,... embedded artifacts in any JSON or text payload
  • Preview images and text artifacts inline without saving them first
  • One-click download of each decoded artifact with the correct file extension
  • Optional standalone base64 detection for raw field values not wrapped in a data URI

Common use cases

  • Extract all images from a REST API response that encodes thumbnails as base64 data URIs
  • Audit an HTML email template to find and externalize inlined assets that increase size
  • Recover a PDF or ZIP attachment from a webhook payload stored as a base64 JSON field
  • Debug an API integration by inspecting every embedded file payload in a GraphQL response

Related Developer Tools

Explore all Developer Tools.