Remove trailing “=” when base64 encoding

Question

I am noticing that whenever I base64 encode a string, a \"=\" is appended at the end. Can I remove this character and then reliably decode it later by adding it back, or is

Answer 1

= is added for padding. The lenght of a base64 string should be multiple of 4, so 1 or 2 = are added as necessary.

Read: No, you shouldn't remove it.