- Is Base64 encryption?
- No. Base64 only rewrites bytes as printable characters so they survive text based channels like email or JSON. Anyone can decode it, so never use it to hide a secret.
- What is the URL safe variant?
- Standard Base64 uses + and /, which have a meaning inside URLs. The URL safe variant uses - and _ instead and usually drops the = padding. JSON Web Tokens use it.
- Component or whole URL?
- Encode a single query value or path segment with "component", which escapes / ? & = # as well. Use "whole URL" to fix spaces and accents in a complete address while keeping its structure.