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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

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

$ # 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

INSTALL

sudo apt install coreutils
sudo dnf install coreutils
sudo pacman -S coreutils
sudo apk add coreutils
sudo zypper install coreutils
brew install coreutils
nix profile install nixpkgs#coreutils

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.

SEE ALSO

base64(1), basenc(1), b2sum(1), uuencode(1)

RESOURCES

Source code · Documentation