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
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.
- Paste your JSON payload, HTML source, or any text into the input field.
- Optionally enable "Also detect standalone Base64 strings" to catch raw base64 values not wrapped in a data URI.
- Click "Scan Payload" to identify all embedded base64 artifacts.
- Review each artifact card: it shows the detected MIME type, estimated decoded file size, and a preview for images and text types.
- 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.
| Context | Field pattern | Typical 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
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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
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