How do you decode Base64 data in Python?

stackoverflow.com › questions › 3470546 › how-do-you-decode-base64-data-in-python

import base64
coded_string = '''Q5YACgA...'''
base64.b64decode(coded_string)

worked for me. At the risk of pasting an offensively-long result, I got:

>>> base64.b64decode(coded_string)
2: 'C\x96\x00\n\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x00\x1b\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x00-\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x00?\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07M\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07_\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07p\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07\x82\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07\x94\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x07\xa6Cq\xf0\x7fC\x96\x07\xb8DJ\x81\xc7C\x96\x07\xcaD\xa5\x9dtC\x96\x07\xdcD\xb6\x97\x11C\x96\x07\xeeD\x8b\x8flC\x96\x07\xffD\x03\xd4\xaaC\x96\x08\x11B\x05&\xdcC\x96\x08#\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x085C\x0c\xc9\xb7C\x96\x08GCy\xc0\xebC\x96\x08YC\x81\xa4xC\x96\x08kC\x0f@\x9bC\x96\x08}\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x08\x8e\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x08\xa0\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x08\xb2\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x86\xf9\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87\x0b\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87\x1d\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87/\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87AA\x0b\xe7PC\x96\x87SCI\xf5gC\x96\x87eC\xd4J\xeaC\x96\x87wD\r\x17EC\x96\x87\x89D\x00F6C\x96\x87\x9bC\x9cg\xdeC\x96\x87\xadB\xd56\x0cC\x96\x87\xbf\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87\xd1\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87\xe3\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x96\x87\xf5\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cY}\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cY\x90\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cY\xa4\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cY\xb7\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cY\xcbC\x1f\xbd\xa3C\x9cY\xdeCCz{C\x9cY\xf1CD\x02\xa7C\x9cZ\x05C+\x9d\x97C\x9cZ\x18C\x03R\xe3C\x9cZ,\x00\x00\x00\x00C\x9cZ?
[stuff omitted as it exceeded SO's body length limits]
\xbb\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc5!7\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc5!\xb2\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x14x\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x14\xf6\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x15t\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x15\xf2\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x16pC5\x9f\xf9D\xc7\x16\xeeC[\xb5\xf5D\xc7\x17lCG\x1b;D\xc7\x17\xeaB\xe3\x0b\xa6D\xc7\x18h\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x18\xe6\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x19d\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\x19\xe2\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\xfe\xb4\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\xff3\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc7\xff\xb2\x00\x00\x00\x00D\xc8\x001\x00\x00\x00\x00'

Answer from Blair Conrad on Stack Overflow

Python

docs.python.org › 3 › library › base64.html

base64 — Base16, Base32, Base64, Base85 Data Encodings

This module provides functions for encoding binary data to printable ASCII characters and decoding such encodings back to binary data. This includes the encodings specified in RFC 4648 (Base64, Base32 and Base16), the Base85 encoding specified ...

Stack Overflow

stackoverflow.com › questions › 3470546 › how-do-you-decode-base64-data-in-python

How do you decode Base64 data in Python? - Stack Overflow

Python 3 (and 2)

import base64
a = 'eW91ciB0ZXh0'
base64.b64decode(a)

Python 2

A quick way to decode it without importing anything:

'eW91ciB0ZXh0'.decode('base64')

or more descriptive

>>> a = 'eW91ciB0ZXh0'
>>> a.decode('base64')
'your text'

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reddit.com › r/learnpython › decode a base64 py code

r/learnpython on Reddit: Decode a base64 py code

January 9, 2026 -

Hi how can I decrupt a long chunk of encoded base 64 multi layer py script like in general

I m also not coder or from this field, just lost the original source of the script and want to recover from this

Top answer

1 of 2

Use the builtin base64 module. https://docs.python.org/3/library/base64.html

2 of 2

Unsure the question. You can decode base64 online: https://www.base64decode.org/

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