Base64Lens View PDF files, images, and Base64-encoded documents directly inside VS Code.
Everything is processed locally — nothing is sent to any server.
Screenshots
Base
Image
PDF
Features
Activity Bar view — Base64Lens lives in the sidebar, always one click away
PDF preview — renders every page of a Base64-encoded PDF using pdf.js, with per-page progress
Automatic file-type detection via magic bytes, with manual override
Drag & drop — drop any supported file onto the panel to preview it
Live input stats — character count, decoded size, validity and detected type as you type
Zoom controls — zoom in / out, reset to 100% or fit to width
File → Base64 — open any supported file and get its Base64 instantly
Decode → save — export the decoded content back to a file
Copy / paste to clipboard with one click
Usage
Select a Base64 string in the editor (or just have it in your clipboard).
Run the command in any of these ways:
Command Palette: Base64Lens: Preview Base64
Context menu: right-click the selection → Preview Base64
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+B (Cmd+Alt+B on macOS)
The selection loads and decodes automatically in the Base64Lens side panel.
You can also open the panel at any time from its icon in the Activity Bar, then paste a string, use the clipboard buttons, or simply drop a file onto the panel to preview it. Press [ save ] to write the decoded bytes back to disk (the original file name is suggested when available).
Supported formats
Type
Formats
Documents
PDF
Images
PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP, ICO, TIFF, SVG
Security & privacy
All decoding and rendering happens locally in your editor.
The webview runs with a strict Content Security Policy and cryptographically random nonces.
No telemetry, no network requests, no data collection.
Requirements
VS Code 1.85.0 or newer.
Known limitations
Very large files may take a few seconds to render.
Encrypted/password-protected PDFs are not supported.
