Quoted-Printable Encoder & Decoder | MIME Email Encoding
Encode text to Quoted-Printable format (RFC 2045) or decode Quoted-Printable back to readable text. Essential for email MIME encoding, supports UTF-8 and handles soft line breaks—everything runs locally in your browser.
How to Use This Tool
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Choose Encode (text → Quoted-Printable) or Decode (Quoted-Printable → text).
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Paste or type your input; Live mode updates instantly.
- 3
Encoded output uses =XX for non-ASCII characters and = for soft line breaks.
- 4
Copy the output or download it as a .txt file.
- 5
Use Swap to send output back to input and switch modes.
Use Cases & Examples
Email MIME Encoding
Encode email message bodies and headers with special characters for MIME-compliant transmission.
Email Debugging & Analysis
Inspect and decode Quoted-Printable encoded email messages and headers during development.
International Email Content
Encode international text in email systems that only support 7-bit ASCII.
Web Application Integration
Handle MIME-encoded data in web applications that process email or similar formats.
Educational & Testing
Understand how email systems encode special characters and line breaks.
Understanding Quoted-Printable
Quoted-Printable encodes bytes outside printable ASCII (33-126) as =XX where XX is hexadecimal.
Soft line breaks (=\r\n) allow long lines to be split without adding actual line breaks to the content.
Lines are limited to 76 characters, with automatic soft breaks inserted as needed.
The encoding is defined in RFC 2045 as part of MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.What is Quoted-Printable encoding and when is it used?
A. Quoted-Printable encodes non-ASCII characters as =XX (hex) while keeping most ASCII readable. It's designed for email systems that only support 7-bit ASCII, making it ideal for text with occasional special characters.
Q.What do the =XX codes mean?
A. =XX represents a byte in hexadecimal. For example, =C3=A9 represents the UTF-8 encoding of 'é'. Soft line breaks (=\r\n) indicate continuation without adding actual line breaks.
Q.What's the difference between Quoted-Printable and Base64?
A. Quoted-Printable keeps most ASCII text readable while encoding only special characters. Base64 encodes everything, making it unreadable but more compact for binary data. Use Quoted-Printable for mostly-text content.
Q.Can it handle Unicode and international characters?
A. Yes. Quoted-Printable fully supports UTF-8 encoding, handling all Unicode characters including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, emojis, and special symbols.
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