base32

Encode and decode base32 data.

TLDR

Encode to base32

$ base32 [file]

Decode base32

$ base32 -d [file.b32]

Encode string

$ echo [text] | base32

Decode string

$ echo [ENCODED] | base32 -d

base32 encodes and decodes data using base32 encoding. Base32 represents binary data using 32 ASCII characters (A-Z and 2-7), making it suitable for case-insensitive systems and human-readable tokens.The tool is part of GNU coreutils and useful for encoding data in URLs, filenames, or other contexts where base64's case sensitivity or special characters are problematic.

PARAMETERS

-d, --decode

Decode base32 data

-i, --ignore-garbage

Ignore non-alphabet characters when decoding

-w, --wrap=cols

Wrap lines at specified width (default: 76, 0 = no wrap)

FEATURES

- Case-insensitive encoding- No special characters (URL-safe)- Standard RFC 4648 implementation- Padding with = characters

WORKFLOW

$ # Encode file
base32 file.bin > file.b32

# Decode file
base32 -d file.b32 > file.bin

# Encode string
echo "Hello World" | base32

# Decode string
echo "JBSWY3DPEBLW64TMMQ======" | base32 -d

CAVEATS

20% larger than base64 encoding. Less common than base64. Padding characters may need escaping in some contexts. Case-insensitive but output is uppercase.

HISTORY

base32 was added to GNU coreutils in version 8.25 (2016), implementing the base32 encoding specified in RFC 4648.