Node.js - convert file to base64

In this article, we would like to show you how to convert file to base64 in Node.js.

1. Import fs module

const fs = require('fs');

2. Use:

•  fs.readFileSync() to read the data from file
• toString() method with specified 'base64' argument to receive base64 encoded string.

Practical example

In this example, we create a reusable function that converts files to base46 encoded string.

const fs = require('fs');

// relative path to the file
const filePath = './file.txt';

// reusable arrow function to encode file data to base64 encoded string
const convertBase64 = (path) => {
    // read binary data from file
    const bitmap = fs.readFileSync(path);
    // convert the binary data to base64 encoded string
    return bitmap.toString('base64');
};


// Usage example
const result = convertBase64(filePath);

References

• File system | Node.js v16.9.1 Documentation
• Object.prototype.toString() - JavaScript | MDN