Decode Base64 data in Java

As of v6, Java SE ships with JAXB. javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter has static methods that make this easy. See parseBase64Binary() and printBase64Binary().

UPDATE: JAXB is no longer shipped with Java (since Java 11). If JAXB is required for your project, you will need to configure the relevant libraries via your dependency management system, for example Maven. If you require the compiler (xjc.exe) you also need to download that separately.

No need to use commons--Sun ships a base64 encoder with Java. You can import it as such:

import sun.misc.BASE64Decoder;

And then use it like this:

BASE64Decoder decoder = new BASE64Decoder();
byte[] decodedBytes = decoder.decodeBuffer(encodedBytes);

Where encodedBytes is either a java.lang.String or a java.io.InputStream. Just beware that the sun.* classes are not "officially supported" by Sun.

EDIT: Who knew this would be the most controversial answer I'd ever post? I do know that sun.* packages are not supported or guaranteed to continue existing, and I do know about Commons and use it all the time. However, the poster asked for a class that that was "included with Sun Java 6," and that's what I was trying to answer. I agree that Commons is the best way to go in general.

EDIT 2: As amir75 points out below, Java 6+ ships with JAXB, which contains supported code to encode/decode Base64. Please see Jeremy Ross' answer below.

Specifically in Commons Codec: class Base64 to decode(byte[] array) or encode(byte[] array)

As an alternative to sun.misc.BASE64Decoder or non-core libraries, look at javax.mail.internet.MimeUtility.decode().

public static byte[] encode(byte[] b) throws Exception {
    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
    OutputStream b64os = MimeUtility.encode(baos, "base64");
    b64os.write(b);
    b64os.close();
    return baos.toByteArray();
}
public static byte[] decode(byte[] b) throws Exception {
    ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(b);
    InputStream b64is = MimeUtility.decode(bais, "base64");
    byte[] tmp = new byte[b.length];
    int n = b64is.read(tmp);
    byte[] res = new byte[n];
    System.arraycopy(tmp, 0, res, 0, n);
    return res;
}

Link with full code: Encode/Decode to/from Base64

Using Java 8 -

    public static String encodeString(String plainString) {
        return  Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(plainString.getBytes());
    }

    public static String decodeString(String encodedString) {
        byte[] bytes = Base64.getDecoder().decode(encodedString);
        return new String(bytes);
    }

You can simply try this.

byte[] data = Base64.getDecoder().decode(base64fileContent);

Base64.getDecode() returns a Base64 Decoder that can be decoded. Then you need to decode that again using .decode(<your base64>).

In a code compiled with Java 7 but potentially running in a higher java version, it seems useful to detect presence of java.util.Base64 class and use the approach best for given JVM mentioned in other questions here.

I used this code:

private static final Method JAVA_UTIL_BASE64_GETENCODER;

static {
    Method getEncoderMethod;
    try {
        final Class<?> base64Class = Class.forName("java.util.Base64");
        getEncoderMethod = base64Class.getMethod("getEncoder");
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException | NoSuchMethodException e) {
        getEncoderMethod = null;
    }
    JAVA_UTIL_BASE64_GETENCODER = getEncoderMethod;
}

static String base64EncodeToString(String s) {
    final byte[] bytes = s.getBytes(StandardCharsets.ISO_8859_1);
    if (JAVA_UTIL_BASE64_GETENCODER == null) {
        // Java 7 and older // TODO: remove this branch after switching to Java 8
        return DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(bytes);
    } else {
        // Java 8 and newer
        try {
            final Object encoder = JAVA_UTIL_BASE64_GETENCODER.invoke(null);
            final Class<?> encoderClass = encoder.getClass();
            final Method encodeMethod = encoderClass.getMethod("encode", byte[].class);
            final byte[] encodedBytes = (byte[]) encodeMethod.invoke(encoder, bytes);
            return new String(encodedBytes);
        } catch (NoSuchMethodException | IllegalAccessException | InvocationTargetException e) {
            throw new IllegalStateException(e);
        }
    }
}

I know it's way to late to answer, but for JDK 8 and above.

Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString("anyStringData".getBytes());
Base64.getDecoder().decode("encodedData");

imports

import java.util.Base64;

Please refer this OracleDocs !

import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.security.MessageDigest;
import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Base64;

import javax.crypto.Cipher;
import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec;
/***
 * 
 * @author Vaquar khan
 * 
 *
 */
public class AES {

    private static SecretKeySpec secretKey;
    private static final String VK_secretKey = "VaquarKhan-secrate-key!!!!";
    private static byte[] key;

    /**
     * 
     * @param myKey
     */
    public static void setKey(String myKey) {
        MessageDigest sha = null;
        try {
            key = myKey.getBytes("UTF-8");
            sha = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-1");
            key = sha.digest(key);
            key = Arrays.copyOf(key, 16);
            secretKey = new SecretKeySpec(key, "AES");
        } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
/**
 * encrypt
 * @param strToEncrypt
 * @param secret
 * @return
 */
    public static String encrypt(String strToEncrypt, String secret) {
        try {
            setKey(secret);
            Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance("AES/ECB/PKCS5Padding");
            cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, secretKey);
            return Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(cipher.doFinal(strToEncrypt.getBytes("UTF-8")));
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Error while encrypting: " + e.toString());
        }
        return null;
    }
/**
 * decrypt
 * @param strToDecrypt
 * @param secret
 * @return
 */
    public static String decrypt(String strToDecrypt, String secret) {
        try {
            setKey(secret);
            Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance("AES/ECB/PKCS5PADDING");
            cipher.init(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE, secretKey);
            return new String(cipher.doFinal(Base64.getDecoder().decode(strToDecrypt)));
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Error while decrypting: " + e.toString());
        }
        return null;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final String secretKey = VK_secretKey;
        String password = "VKhan@12";
        //
        String encryptedString = AES.encrypt(password, secretKey);
        String decryptedString = AES.decrypt(encryptedString, secretKey);
        //
        System.out.println(password);
        System.out.println(encryptedString);
        System.out.println(decryptedString);
    }

}