base32
Encode and decode base32 data.
TLDR
Encode to base32
SYNOPSIS
base32 [options] [file]
DESCRIPTION
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
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.