Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder Online
Encode and decode Quoted-Printable (MIME =XX) text right in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded.
The Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder runs entirely in your browser. Text and message content you paste never leave your device and nothing is uploaded to ArrayKit.
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About Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder
The Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder converts text to and from the Quoted-Printable transfer encoding defined in RFC 2045, the format email clients and MIME messages use to keep mostly plain-text content readable while safely representing bytes outside the printable ASCII range. Encode mode UTF-8 encodes your text, escapes anything outside 33–126 (plus a literal '=') as =XX in uppercase hex, and wraps long lines with soft line breaks so no line exceeds 76 characters. Decode mode reverses the process, removing soft breaks and turning =XX escapes — uppercase or lowercase — back into the original characters, including accented letters and multi-byte UTF-8 text. It is useful when you are debugging an .eml file, inspecting a MIME email body, or troubleshooting mail server output that shows raw =XX sequences. Everything runs locally in your browser — no message content is uploaded.
Features
- Encode text to Quoted-Printable with correct UTF-8 byte escaping
- Decode Quoted-Printable back to readable text, including accents and emoji
- Soft-wraps encoded lines at 76 characters per RFC 2045
- Escapes trailing tabs and spaces at line ends so they survive mail transport
- Accepts both uppercase and lowercase =XX hex escapes when decoding
- Preserves hard line breaks in multi-line text through encode and decode
- Warns when decode input contains a malformed escape, while still showing a best-effort result
- Runs entirely in your browser with no message content sent anywhere
How to use the Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder
- Choose Encode or Decode with the mode switch
- Paste or type your text (or Quoted-Printable content) into the input pane
- Read the converted result in the output pane as you type
- Copy the output with the button in the pane header
Example
Input
Café Münchén
Output
Caf=C3=A9 M=C3=BCnch=C3=A9n
Each accented character's UTF-8 bytes are escaped as =XX; plain ASCII stays untouched.
Common errors & troubleshooting
- Decoded text shows garbled characters instead of accented letters. — Make sure the full =XX sequence for each multi-byte UTF-8 character is included — a truncated escape (like a lone =C3) will not decode correctly.
- A soft-wrapped line still contains a trailing '=' after decoding. — The Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder strips soft line breaks ('=\r\n') automatically during decode; if a stray '=' remains, the source likely has a non-standard line ending — try normalizing it first.
- Encoded output looks longer than expected for short text with symbols. — Any byte outside printable ASCII (33–126) is escaped as three characters (=XX), including a literal '=' sign itself, so text with punctuation or accents naturally expands.
- Decode shows a malformed-escape warning. — Look for a stray '=' that isn't followed by two hex digits or a line break — the tool still decodes the rest of the text as a best-effort result around it.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Quoted-Printable encoding?
- Quoted-Printable is a MIME content-transfer-encoding defined in RFC 2045. It keeps text that is mostly 7-bit ASCII readable in plain form while representing any byte outside 33–126 (and a literal '=') as =XX in hexadecimal, and it wraps long lines with soft breaks so no line exceeds 76 characters.
- How does the Quoted-Printable Encoder handle accented and non-ASCII text?
- It first UTF-8 encodes your text into bytes, then escapes every byte outside the printable ASCII range as =XX. A character like 'é' becomes two escaped bytes, '=C3=A9', since it is two bytes in UTF-8.
- Can the Quoted-Printable Decoder handle lowercase hex like =3d?
- Yes. The decoder accepts both uppercase and lowercase hex digits in =XX escapes, so '=3d' and '=3D' both decode to the same '=' character.
- Why does quoted-printable output wrap at 76 characters?
- RFC 2045 limits each encoded line to 76 characters (including the soft break marker) because many legacy mail transports and terminals could not reliably handle longer lines. The encoder inserts a '=\r\n' soft break whenever a line would exceed that limit.
- Does the Quoted-Printable Encoder / Decoder upload my email content anywhere?
- No. Encoding and decoding happen entirely in your browser. The text or message content you paste never leaves your device and is not sent to ArrayKit or any server.
- What is the difference between Quoted-Printable and Base64 encoding?
- Quoted-Printable keeps most ASCII text readable as-is and only escapes the bytes that need it, so mostly-English content stays compact. Base64 re-encodes every byte into a fixed alphabet, which is denser for binary data but makes plain text unreadable until decoded.
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