Tool to decode / encode with the Crockford Base-32. Crockford's Base32 is a variant of base 32 created by Douglas Crockford improving use by humans.
Base-32 Crockford - dCode
Tag(s) : Character Encoding
dCode is free and its tools are a valuable help in games, maths, geocaching, puzzles and problems to solve every day!
A suggestion ? a feedback ? a bug ? an idea ? Write to dCode!
Base-32 Crockford
Crockford Base-32 Decoder
Crockford base-32 Encoder
Answers to Questions (FAQ)
What is the Crockford Base-32? (Definition)
The base-32 designed by Douglas Crockford is a variant of the base 32 (standard RFC 3548) willing to optimize the writing and reading by human and adding a checksum.
The Crockford base-32 uses 32 characters' 0123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTVWXYZ 'ie the 36 alphanumeric characters excluding I,L,O to prevent confusion with digits and the letter' U 'which avoids unwanted puns (U=You).
Crockford optionally offers a modulo 37 checksum with 5 other characters: *~$=U
How to encrypt using Crockford Base-32 cipher?
The plain message is treated as a binary string and divided into 5-bit blocks (completed if necessary by 0).
Example: base is encoded in ASCII (8-bit) 01100010 01100001 01110011 01100101, the cutout gives the blocks 01100,01001,10000,10111,00110,11001,01000 (with three 0 added at the end)
Each block of 5 bits is encoded via the Crockford alphabet by its corresponding character:
| 00000 | 0 | 00001 | 1 | 00010 | 2 | 00011 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00100 | 4 | 00101 | 5 | 00110 | 6 | 00111 | 7 |
| 01000 | 8 | 01001 | 9 | 01010 | A | 01011 | B |
| 01100 | C | 01101 | D | 01110 | E | 01111 | F |
| 10000 | G | 10001 | H | 10010 | J | 10011 | K |
| 10100 | M | 10101 | N | 10110 | P | 10111 | Q |
| 11000 | R | 11001 | S | 11010 | T | 11011 | V |
| 11100 | W | 11101 | X | 11110 | Y | 11111 | Z |
Example: The coded message is C9GQ6S8
How to calculate the checksum character?
The original binary message is encoded as a (very large) integer whose modulo value 37 is calculated (37 is the smallest next prime number following 32).
Example: base encoded in binary 01100010011000010111001101100101 (base 2) corresponds to 1650553701 (in decimal) and 1650553701 mod 37 = 18 which is coded 18=J so the control character is' J'
Example: The message coded with the control character is C9GQ6S8J
How to decrypt using Crockford Base-32?
Crockford base-32 decryption starts with a conversion of characters into binary form via the lookup table
| 0 | 00000 | 1 | 00001 | 2 | 00010 | 3 | 00011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 00100 | 5 | 00101 | 6 | 00110 | 7 | 00111 |
| 8 | 01000 | 9 | 01001 | A | 01010 | B | 01011 |
| C | 01100 | D | 01101 | E | 01110 | F | 01111 |
| G | 10000 | H | 10001 | J | 10010 | K | 10011 |
| M | 10100 | N | 10101 | P | 10110 | Q | 10111 |
| R | 11000 | S | 11001 | T | 11010 | V | 11011 |
| W | 11100 | X | 11101 | Y | 11110 | Z | 11111 |
Example: The message 6CS0 corresponds to 00110,01100,11001,00000
The resulting binary string is then interpreted (depending on the encoding or format used)
Example: 00110011,00110010,0000 is the ASCII code of the string 32
How to recognize Crockford Base-32 ciphertext?
The message is composed of uppercase alphanumeric characters except I, L, O. It is also possible to find the characters *~$=U at the end of the coding data and sometimes the dash/hyphen - is used to promote reading.
Originally Base 32 was created to express large numbers, such as public encryption keys.
More infos here
Source code
dCode retains ownership of the "Base-32 Crockford" source code. Except explicit open source licence (indicated Creative Commons / free), the "Base-32 Crockford" algorithm, the applet or snippet (converter, solver, encryption / decryption, encoding / decoding, ciphering / deciphering, breaker, translator), or the "Base-32 Crockford" functions (calculate, convert, solve, decrypt / encrypt, decipher / cipher, decode / encode, translate) written in any informatic language (Python, Java, PHP, C#, Javascript, Matlab, etc.) and all data download, script, or API access for "Base-32 Crockford" are not public, same for offline use on PC, mobile, tablet, iPhone or Android app!
Reminder : dCode is free to use.
Cite dCode
The copy-paste of the page "Base-32 Crockford" or any of its results, is allowed (even for commercial purposes) as long as you credit dCode!
Exporting results as a .csv or .txt file is free by clicking on the export icon
Cite as source (bibliography):
Base-32 Crockford on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2024-12-21,
